Ahmad 
An Algerian court on Wednesday (February 14th) sentenced former micro-enterprise minister Nassim Diafat to five years in prison and a fine of one million Algerian dinars (about US$7,500) on corruption charges.
The former minister was convicted before the Pole Criminal Court specialized in financial and economic corruption cases in Sidi M’hamed in Algiers, after proving the charges against him, which include squandering public funds, abuse of influence and illicit enrichment.
The former minister was accused of enabling members of his family to obtain concessions in the state company Alreem, a metal structure company.
The verdict is the second in a series of corruption cases involving ministers under Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, where former Minister of Water Resources Arezki Baraki was previously convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison and a similar fine.
In the December 2022 ruling, the Criminal Court convicted Mr. Arezki Baraki on charges related to squandering public funds and abuse of office.
Baraki served as director general of the National Agency for Dams and Transfers from 2015 to January 2020, before being appointed minister of water resources in the first government formed by President Tebboune after assuming the presidency.