Algeria: Former Bouteflika allies given heavy jail terms in corruption trials

An Algerian court handed down long prison sentences to several senior allies of ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Wednesday, a defence lawyer said. 

The Algerian court gave prominent tycoon Ali Haddad an 18-year jail term. Former prime ministers Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal, who are already imprisoned, were sentenced to 12 years each. 

Eight other former ministers were handed sentences between two and 20 years. 

Haddad's four brothers were also condemned to four years in prison, with the court ordering the seizure of family assets. 

The tycoon's lawyers condemned the verdict, calling it "obviously political", stating that Haddad intended to launch an appeal. 

"The defendants were members of the old regime. They are paying the price for being defeated," Khaled Bourayou, an advocate in Algeria, told AFP.

Charges against Haddad, the founder and CEO of construction firm ETRHB and former head of Algeria's main business owners' organisation, include "privileges, advantages and public contracts" as well as squandering public funds. 

Some of the key charges stemmed from Haddad receiving $16bn worth of bank loans he had allegedly obtained for projects gained through "mutual consents" rather than tenders, according to local media reports. 

Dubbed as one of the main funders of Bouteflika's recent election campaigns, Haddad was already sentenced at the end of March to four years in prison after another corruption trial.