Ex-Algeria PM sentenced to 7 years in prison

Ahmed Ouyahia

05 Jan 2021; MEMO: An Algerian court yesterday sentenced former Prime Minister in ousted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's government, Ahmed Ouyahia, to seven years in prison on corruption charges.

Local media reported that the Sidi M'hamed court in the capital Algiers also sentenced the former ministers of tourism and transport, Ammar Ghoul and Abdelghani Zaalan, to three years in jail in the same case.

Legal sources were quoted as saying that the court had convicted the governor of Skikda province to "five years in prison in the same case."

Ouyahia, along with several prominent officials, was said to have been embroiled in a number of corruption cases during Bouteflika's tenure.

Bouteflika resigned in April 2019 under pressure from the army following weeks of mass protests against his 20-year rule.