ALGIERS- The financial and economic penal pole at the tribunal of Sidi M’hamed (Algiers) heard, Thursday, the defendants in the case of the flour mills of Corso, prosecuted for corruption, and at the head of which the former Minister of Industry, Djamila Tamazirt.
The trial began with the hearing of the Minister, former Director General (DG) of the Corso agro-food complex (Boumerdes), on the circumstances of the conclusion of a partnership contract between the Amor Benamor Group and the Corso flour mill ( Erriad Alger), as well as on the procedures related to the expertise on the equipment, the reasons for its dismantling as well as the determination of its financial value and the buyers.
The accused Tamazirt, prosecuted for charges related to the squandering of public funds and the granting of undue privileges, affirmed that “the decision to engage in this partnership was taken in application of a correspondence from the Prime Minister of time (Abdelmalek Sellal)”, noting that she “had not interfered in the work of the commissions for the preparation of the expertise, in charge of the financial evaluation, the state of the equipment of the Corso unit and the definition of its financial value”.
The accused also denied “having interfered in the decision to dismantle the equipment”, in the sense that “the sale of this equipment was made for the benefit of the subsidiaries of the complex belonging to the public establishment of flour mills on all the national territory, the sale having been carried out on behalf of public establishments”, she said.
“Dating back to the 80s of the last century, the equipment was outdated and no longer met the new standards of the pasta production line,” she explained.
In addition, the judge heard the person in charge of the auction commission of the equipment of the pasta unit of Corso.
The accused indicated that “the sale of the equipment was carried out in the form of lots, a lot intended for the Sétif and Constantine flour mills, in execution of the instructions he had received from Tamazirt, and following which the procedures had were carried out in accordance with the law”. He further specified that “he did not attend all the lots of the sale for having retired”.
