Pronunciation of the preliminary rulings on June 15th.. The Public Prosecutor requests:
The accused responds: I have no property, no real estate, or accounts abroad
The judicial agent demands 20 billion to compensate for damages
The Public Prosecutor at the Economic and Financial Criminal Court of Sidi M’hamed requested, on Monday evening, June 8, the maximum penalties against former Minister of Housing Abdel Wahid Tammar, as he demanded 10 years in prison and a fine of 8 million Algerian dinars, with the confiscation of all seized items.
In return, the judicial agent demanded from the accused an amount of 200 million Algerian dinars in compensation for damages, while the head of the court set the current date of June 15 as the day to pronounce the rulings in the current case.
On Monday, former Minister Abdel Wahid Tammar appeared before the Pole Court about the facts of money laundering and criminal proceeds, and the fact of issuing a power of attorney for his minor son to enable him to travel to Spanish territory.
The judge calls the main and only accused in the case, Abdel Wahid Tamar, and begins questioning him after checking his full identity.
Judge: You are being prosecuted for the misdemeanors of money laundering on the basis of habit, and exploiting the facilities granted by professional activity within the framework of a criminal operation, which are the acts stipulated and punishable under Article 389 bis 2 of the Penal Code and Article 42 of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Law 01/06 Do you confess or deny?
Tamar: I deny it completely and in detail… Mr. President, I was in prison serving my sentence in which I had only 3 weeks remaining, but the Assistant Public Prosecutor at the Algerian Judicial Council came to the penal institution and asked me about the “agency project” that my wife had submitted to take my minor son to travel outside the national territory. I answered him and told him verbatim: “Why should I release the agency when I am on the verge of being released from prison?”
The accused added: “Mr. President, the project of this agency goes back 3 years before the case was opened, and I was then being tried in the first case, where my son was subjected to a psychological crisis. Then my wife’s aunt residing in Spain called and offered her the idea of spending a vacation with her to overcome this crisis… So what does my son’s travel abroad have to do with money laundering? And what is the criminal group in which he is active? Just as a reminder, Your Honor, the indictment chamber in 2022 completely acquitted me of the charge of illicit enrichment on the basis of judicial delegations inside and outside the country, which were negative. I confirmed that I do not own anything.. For God’s sake, how do we explain that in the year 2024, the properties, accounts, and real estate will appear and then I will be accused of money laundering while I am in prison. What is the story of the fake account in a bank in Spain, to which I answered the investigating judge that neither I nor my wife nor my son have any account?
Tamar sighs a little and then addresses the president: “I was waiting for the investigating judge to drop the criminal prosecution against me and to benefit from the absence of a case, but unfortunately I find myself overnight and unjustly brought before you on heavy charges built on baseless conclusions and assumptions… without taking into account the conditions I have been living in for 7 years in prison, even though I did not suffer from financial hardship as a former international expert, but recently, and despite the Criminal Chamber lifting the confiscation of my pension, However, the investigating judge did not enable my wife to be his guardian, which put me in financial difficulty.
The judge interrupts him and reads to him his statements to the Assistant Public Prosecutor, saying: On the subject of the “power of attorney,” you said that you did not sign it, but you stated that in order to issue the power of attorney and because you were in the penal institution, a notary had to move to the penal institution and provide you with the power of attorney and sign it. For the same purpose, the notary prepared a draft power of attorney and submitted the application accompanied by the draft power of attorney to the Public Prosecution, right?
Tamar: On January 7, 2024, the Assistant Public Prosecutor came to me and there were only 3 weeks left until I was released from prison. However, I denied meeting the notary and that the agency was just a “project” and I did not approve it because the latter had not entered the penal institution.
Judge: To proceed with your argument, you said that when the Public Prosecutor listened to you, you did not make these statements. Isn’t your wife’s sister called Jamila? Is it reasonable that the Public Prosecutor would know if you did not declare that?
Tamar: Mr. President, I actually told him the name of my wife’s sister, but I did not declare it for the purpose of studying or staying there, but only for a vacation.
Judge: You stated that the family, the wife and the children have no property or accounts. I wonder how your son can practice his studies abroad for a full year even though you also said that your pension is suspended?
Tamar: My son’s aunt lives in Spain and she has no children. My children visit her every vacation and she helps them with the cost of travel, which is plane tickets, which do not cost a lot of money.
Judge: Neither you nor your wife nor your children have bank accounts in Spain, but in order to open an account or buy a property abroad, what procedures must be followed?
Tamar: I don’t know that, Mr. President.
The judge interrupts him, saying: “You have to go” to the police to obtain the “NIE” document to open a bank account, right?
Tamar responds to the judge: “I did not extract any document.” The judge is silent for a moment, then calls him and asks him to come closer to him, so that he can show him the document in his name and in the name of his wife and daughter. Tamar responds to him, saying: “Mr. President, this is not true.” He, in turn, shows a counter document issued by the director of the Spanish bank BBVA and recites to the judge its content, which is that neither he nor his family members have any bank account in Spain. Then he says: “I have nothing to do with fabricating these accusations.” “For me.”
Judge: Why then did you extract the “tax identification”? Is it not necessary to open a bank account?
Tamar: I repeat again, Your Honor, I do not have any bank account. Please, if this is true, confront me with the document “It was not impossible.”
Judge: Do you want to say that you do not have any account abroad, and you have not obtained the tax identification and have not signed a power of attorney?
Tamar: Yes, Mr. President, I confirm that I have not signed any agency so far, and that no notary from the penal institution has presented to me, and I also deny that I have any accounts in Spain.
I would like, Mr. President, to add that I was imprisoned in the case without charge, without crime, and without evidence, and I do not understand the relationship between the drafting of a notarized agency and the money laundering charge.
Defense: An agency project turns into a money laundering and criminal group
For its part, the defense team of the former minister was surprised at how the threads of the case were tightly woven against their client, so that the “agency” project turned into money laundering and a criminal group to keep him in prison… for an unknown time.
In a strong plea, lawyer Nasira Wa’ali described the file as a “farce” as it does not contain clear legal elements, not with regard to the misdemeanor of money laundering or activity within the framework of a criminal group, but rather – according to Wa’ali’s words – it is merely vague conclusions and interpretations that do not rise to the level of conviction, saying: “I am responsible for my words.”
She began her plea by detailing the rationale for launching the investigation into the case, and said: “Mr. President, this is a figment of the imagination… When the ‘agency project’ turns into heavy charges, it opens a wide door for the Republic Prosecutor’s Office to demand that my client be sentenced to 10 years in prison. This is what we call injustice (and injustice is the darkness of the Day of Resurrection)… Yes, my client has only 3 weeks left to exhaust his sentence and leave prison, so this case can be created even though the agency incident goes back more than 3 years. Before starting the investigation.
Waali wondered: “What right does the Assistant Public Prosecutor have to hear him without the presence of the judicial officer? Moreover, is this not within the powers of the judicial police? They are supposed, Mr. President, to look for other facts to keep him in prison and not to draft an agency for his son to travel to his aunt who is in Spain.. This is pure nonsense!”
What is more dangerous than that, Waali says, “The Pole Prosecutor’s Office wrote to the Financial Inquiry Cell, which responded clearly and with evidence and evidence that Tamar and his family do not possess any property, property, or bank account abroad, especially in Spain, and yet, unfortunately, it was ‘deposited’. And beyond that, Mr. President, give me any material that prevents an Algerian from opening a bank account abroad?… With just a passport, this can be done without the need for other documents… I wonder if a 4-year-old girl can open one.” A bank account in her name? This is illogical and crazy?
The defense focused on her client’s social situation and stressed that despite his submitting several requests to the prosecution regarding lifting the garnishment on his pension so that his family can benefit from it, there is no life for the person she is calling for. She said: “Frankly, Mr. President, no real estate, no property, no accounts, no laundering, no agency…”, before the lawyer finally sought acquittal for her client and the dropping of all charges against him, saying: “4 years in prison is “exhaustion”, as he has nothing to do with politics or By “mixing” and the evidence is that he is the only minister whose “annexation” of sanctions was accepted.
For his part, lawyer Ahmed Jawahra, a member of the defense team, presented a lengthy plea in which he asserted that his client was being tried for incidents that did not fall within the scope of complex economic and financial crimes, but rather an “agency project” that was not completed, causing him to suffer a strong shock, after he was informed that he had been placed in detention in the case file, and he was ready to leave the penal institution.
Jawahra went into the details of the file, saying: “Mr. President, throughout my professional experience, for the first time, I have been unable to prepare my defense in a case that has no head or head,” so he addressed the court: “Mr. President, I would like to ask a question during my pleading: What is the relationship between an agency project that authorizes a minor to obtain a visa and travel, and the crime of money laundering within the framework of a criminal group?” In penal matters, it is necessary to control terminology and name names.”
The lawyer added: “The current file was transferred according to a referral order that lacks any incriminating facts, and the investigating judge based it on conclusions of a supposed crime, because the latter assumed that the agency project, which my client did not see, did not sign, and did not contact the notary at all, is a crime, and the minor’s travel abroad was for the purpose of benefiting from money laundered abroad, and this is inconsistent with reality, in light of the fact that the judicial investigation has not proven or reached a definitive conclusion that my client owns any real estate abroad or Reports: Such conclusions or speculations do not amount to proof of the crime of whitewashing within the framework of an organized criminal group.
Regarding the issue of the alleged proceeds of crime – according to Jawahra – “How come they did not appear during the judicial investigations? The three previous files in which my client Tamar was pursued, their features were not included in the previous judicial delegations, and I say even the current one, which passed through the same investigation room and the same investigation cases. So, it is easy to refer a file before the ruling body, but it is difficult to prove the evidence and burdens, and under the narrow supervision of your justice, Mr. President, the summary of the referral order includes conclusions and assumptions instead of being burdens. And evidence…”
Jawaher revolted, addressing the court panel: “The investigation into the financial assets was negative, there were no properties, real estate, or bank accounts… Then the agency’s story was brought out to keep Tamar in prison for a longer period… Is it reasonable for matters to reach this level? Where is that in the pole known for its sophistication in the type of cases it handles? Why did we not investigate whether the agency’s project was actually signed? Did the minor benefit from the visa? Did he travel outside the national territory? If we accept that, does this constitute a crime? And does the law punish people? For actions they did not commit or did not initiate at all?
Knowing – Jawahra adds – “that the accused was under arrest during the alleged incidents and had not previously committed any act that constituted the crime of laundering. I would also like to point out that the draft agency was presented to the Public Prosecution, at the request of the notary, so where is the issue of illegality or crime? In the absence of any criminal activity on the part of my client and in light of the investigation not conclusively finding that the accused owns real estate and movables? In light of the accused’s failure to sign any agency? And in light of the lack of proof of judicial delegations of possession of any real estate or property. Accounts or property, and in light of the prosecution’s inspection of the agency’s project? And in light of the minor’s lack of travel or permission to travel, and in light of the absence of any money laundering and criminal proceeds?
The defense concluded its case by saying: “Mr. President, given the lack of proof of the criminal acts and the absence of all the elements, my client must be acquitted, and I ask you to drop the charges against him and allow him to return to the embrace of his family. You are welcome.”
In the same way, lawyer Nabil Waali followed, who gathered his entire defense force in order to prove his client’s innocence by using all the evidence and evidence that would refute the accusations against him in the absence of any material or legal basis on which the accusation could be based, as the defense put it.
Waali considered that the entire file was founded on an agency that has been in existence for three years and does not amount to certain evidence. He said: “I return once again to what was said by colleagues: What is the relationship between the agency project and the crime of whitewashing so that we can call things by their names? Because the current incident lies in an agency project and not a final agency signed by my client… Respected Mr. President, the backbone of the current case is the only accused, Abdel Waheed Tammar, as it was planned to overthrow and destroy him. How could it not? It is the norm in the perspective of the law that every crime is important.” Its type was obligatory for the legal element and the material element to be present, but in this case, neither this nor that is merely speculation, conclusions, and conclusions that are devoid of validity, as there is no presumption or single material evidence to rely on within the legal materials that are being followed, neither money laundering nor a criminal group nor are they sad?
Waali did not neglect to stop at an important point, related to the hearing of the accused by the Assistant Public Prosecutor, in addition to the attempt to interrogate him while he was in a difficult psychological state, when he was informed that he would be followed up in the “agency project” file.
“Mr. President, the report they prepared, both in form and substance, is considered invalid, because the original must be accompanied by the Public Prosecutor, the Enforcement Secretary, or the Judicial Enforcement Department.”
The defense was raised against the judicial representative, who said that he was distributing his requests without specifying responsibilities, demanding huge sums of money without relying on any evidence or material experience, and without clarifying on what basis her requests were based.
Lawyer Nabil Waali concluded his plea by saying: “Mr. President, my client is a statesman par excellence. He spent his life serving the nation and was a governor then… only to find himself now threatened with imprisonment. Is this Sinmar’s punishment? On this basis, we have great confidence in the Algerian justice and in you, Mr. President, to do justice to him and clear his name.”
