Three former presidents of the Algerian Football Association are facing several charges of corruption, in a trial that began yesterday, Tuesday, and is expected to last several days, given the weight of the files presented before the court, related to the financial management of the football body during the period between 2017 and 2023.
The trial began, after being postponed several times, at the “Economic and Financial Pole Court”, as several detained defendants are being prosecuted in this case, including three former presidents of the Football Association, known by the abbreviation “FAF”, namely Khairuddin Zatshi (2017-2021), Charafeddine Amara (2021-2022), and Jahid Zvezif (2022-2023).
The file also includes five defendants who were members of the federation’s executive office. The indictment includes “deliberate abuse of employment in a manner that violates laws and regulations for the purpose of granting undeserved privileges to others,” “concluding deals in violation of legislative and regulatory provisions for the purpose of granting undeserved privileges to others,” “deliberate squandering of public funds through the illegal use of them,” “misappropriation of public funds and seizing them by illegal means,” and “benefiting from undeserved privileges on the occasion of concluding a contract with the state or one of its members.” its institutions,” and “participation in the deliberate squandering of public funds.”
The accused deny the suspicions
These facts relate to the financial and administrative management of the Algerian Football Federation, and they are charges that all the accused denied, according to what Al-Watan newspaper published in its Wednesday issue.
At the beginning of the trial, the defendants’ defense team raised a group of “procedural deficiencies,” focusing on challenging the Public Prosecution’s investigations and the legal basis for adjusting the facts. In this context, Jahid Zvezev’s lawyers requested that the report of the “General Inspectorate of Finance” (a government body that investigates the spending of public money) not be taken into account. They also challenged “the circumstances in which the experts listened to the federation’s lawyers,” and “the preparation of a report without mentioning the names and descriptions of its preparers.” The Defense Authority also objected to the establishment of the civil party, arguing that “there are no unpaid financial dues between it and the Union.”
When the interrogation of the non-arrested defendants began, the judge summoned the Director of Human Resources at the Football Association, who denied all the charges against her, related to the acquisition of sportswear worth 60 million dinars (about 445 thousand dollars), without justifying its uses. She categorically denies that this is true, and explains that the matter relates to an amount of 100 thousand dinars ($744), as proven by accounting documents, which was used to purchase sportswear, which was distributed to workers as part of solidarity with them during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. She added, explaining: “I respected all procedures.”
The prosecutor responded to her by saying that the problem is that the party to whom these clothes were directed is not specified.
When he appeared before the court, Omar Bahloul, a member of the Executive Office, in turn denied the facts attributed to him, asking: “Why are there only five members in the dock out of 13 members of the Executive Office?” He explained that at the beginning of each season, 1,200 sports kits are distributed according to documented and respectful procedures. He tried to convince the judge that he was being subjected to what he described as “targeting,” according to what was reported by Al-Watan newspaper regarding the stages of the trial.
Bahloul said in this regard: “I am being followed up for the second time in the same case, here in Annaba (east). They are the same ones who told me in 2017 that if I did not agree to the hotel that the Algerian Football Federation was planning to build, they would destroy me. But I refused, and said that it would be better to build four training centers dedicated to sports. The idea was adopted and embodied on the ground, but my opponents, who are still in their positions, were able in the end to destroy me.”
Expanding the scope of accounting
The court also heard from two other members of the Executive Office, particularly regarding a travel agency responsible for providing travel tickets and hotel reservations for the Algerian Football Federation, as well as the contract concluded with Adidas for clothing and sports supplies. However, all of the defendants denied committing any violation of the law, stressing that they “acted in accordance with the law.”
The trial resumed on Wednesday with the questioning of the rest of the defendants, leaving room for the prosecution’s arguments before the floor was referred to the lawyers, who numbered more than twenty.
The period of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's rule witnessed the consolidation of the judicial approach in dealing strictly with corruption files, as prosecutions continued to affect prominent names in the pyramid of power, including ministers and senior employees of the Presidency of the Republic.
Observers believe that these trials reflect an insistence on holding accountable officials who are at the forefront of the political scene, as part of an effort that the authorities place within the framework of what it calls “the morals of public life.”
Among the most prominent names that have been subjected to prosecution are Ali Aoun, the former Minister of Industry and Pharmaceutical Production, Nassim Dhiafat, the former Minister Delegate in charge of emerging and small enterprises, Tijani Hassan Haddam, the former Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security, and Mohamed Bouakaz, the former advisor to the President of the Republic and the former Director General of Protocol at the Presidency of the Republic.
Corruption cases also included prominent officials in previous stages, including prime ministers, ministers, and security officials, such as General Bashir Tartag, General Wassini Bouazza, former National Gendarmerie Commander General Menad Nouba, and former Directors-General of National Security Abdelghani Hamel and Farid Ben Sheikh.
