5 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
An Algerian court has sentenced former Health Minister Abdelmalek Budiaf to seven years in prison on charges of illicit enrichment and influence peddling during his period in charge of the portfolio between 2013 and 2017.
Budiaf was also accused of money laundering, concealment within the framework of a criminal group and granting unjustified advantages in the conclusion of contracts and markets, charges for which he will also have to pay a fine of seven million Algerian dinars (about 47,200 euros). .
Within the framework of this same process, one of his sons has been sentenced to four years in prison, while one of his daughters has received an 18-month sentence, according to the Algerian state news agency, APS.
For his part, the former director general of the Central Pharmacy of Hospitals Mohamed Ayad has been sentenced to 18 months in jail, while Budiaf’s wife has been acquitted by the Sidi Mohamed court in the capital, Algiers.
Numerous businessmen and people close to former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika have been detained since he left power in April 2019, while his successor and current president, Abdelmayid Tebune, has promised to work against corruption in the African country.
