Abdeslam Bouchouareb, former Minister of Industry under President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, is in France, where he is seeking protection. The French courts will rule on Algeria’s extradition requests on October 9.
Prosecuted in Algeria in corruption cases, he was repeatedly sentenced to heavy 20-year prison sentences in absentia.
He left Algeria before the fall of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April 2019, under pressure from the popular hirak that caused the failure of his fifth term project. He took refuge in France, as TSA reported in May 2019.
According to an AFP dispatch published on Thursday, September 19, Abdeslam Bouchouareb is the subject of an extradition request from Algeria.
His lawyer, Benjamin Bohbot, is asking the French courts not to extradite him, stating that his client is the subject of “ political prosecutions ” in a context of “ purge of the Bouteflika era “.
Since the fall of the former President of the Republic, numerous convictions for corruption have been handed down against former ministers and businessmen. In Algeria, Abdeslam Bouchouareb was convicted in absentia in numerous cases related to the automobile affair.
Will France extradite Abdeslam Bouchouareb to Algeria?
Living in the Alpes-Maritimes in the south-east of France, Abdeslam Bouchouareb, 72, has been placed under judicial supervision by the French justice system since October 2023. He is only prohibited from leaving France where he legally resides, according to AFP.
In total, Algeria has submitted eight extradition requests to the investigating chamber of the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal (South of France) in the Bouchouareb case, including five to execute judgments handed down against the former Minister of Industry (April 2014 – May 2017) and three in the context of other legal proceedings.
The judges of the Court of Aix-en-Provence asked the Algerian justice system ” two additional information to obtain clarification on legal points “, according to the same source. The French judges also demanded “ formal commitment “that the death penalty, if incurred, “ will not be required or applied “.
Abdeslam Bouchouareb was named in the Panama Papers affair in 2016 which revealed that he owned an offshore company managing a portfolio of real estate securities worth 700,000 euros.
He lost the confidence of President Bouteflika when Abdelmadjid Tebboune was appointed head of government on May 25, 2017, while he was the subject of harsh criticism over his management of vehicle import licenses.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune was then removed from the government on August 16 of the same year under pressure from Bouteflika’s men.
In December 2019, he was elected President of the Republic, and re-elected for a second term on September 7.
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