An Algerian court on Tuesday sentenced Tijani Hassan Haddam, the country’s former labour minister, to seven years in prison after finding him guilty of embezzling nearly $45 million in public funds. The conviction adds to a growing list of prosecutions targeting former officials who served under the long rule of ex-President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
According to Algerian media reports, the case centered on a real estate purchase Haddam falsely claimed was intended for the National Social Security Fund (CNAS), which he led from 2015 to 2019 before becoming labour minister. The court found that Haddam had personally benefited from the deal, misappropriating tens of millions of dollars meant for the state.
A property developer implicated in the transaction was also convicted and handed an identical seven-year sentence, while two former mayors of an Algiers municipality where the property is located received four years each. Additionally, the court sentenced the former director of state property and another government official to three years in prison for their roles in the fraudulent transaction.
The charges included “exploiting one’s position,” “granting unjustified privileges,” and “squandering public funds,” according to the Algerian newspaper Echorouk.
Haddam’s political rise came during the later years of Bouteflika’s presidency, a period widely criticized for deep-rooted corruption and cronyism. He served as labour minister from 2019 until 2020, just months before Bouteflika’s resignation amid mass pro-democracy protests that ended his two-decade rule.
Since taking office in December 2019, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has vowed to crack down on corruption linked to the Bouteflika era. His government has pursued a series of high-profile cases against former ministers, governors, and state enterprise executives accused of misusing public resources.
Tebboune, who was re-elected in September 2024, has framed the campaign as part of a broader effort to restore public trust and rebuild institutions undermined by years of graft. Critics, however, say the prosecutions have been selective and politically motivated, aimed at consolidating power rather than achieving systemic reform.
Haddam’s conviction is one of the latest in a string of rulings that signal Algeria’s continuing attempt to reckon with the legacy of corruption from the Bouteflika years — a process that remains central to Tebboune’s promise of accountability and renewal within the country’s political establishment.
By FCCT Editorial Team
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