Khalifa case, Algerian court must examine appeal filed by the defence

Minister of Justice Tayeb Louh declared Monday here that the "Supreme Court has to examine the appeal filed the defence of Algerian  former businessman, Abdelmoumène Rafik Khelifa, prosecuted on several charges."
The minister made this statement on the sidelines of the installation of the newly-appointed president of Algiers Court, Abdi Benyounès.
"Once this issue resolved, the case would be enrolled and other measures will be taken, under the decision of the Supreme Court," the minister said.
The minister indicated that "all the cases are submitted to the legal procedures foreseen by the law."
In a response to a question on the sentence recently delivered by the Tribunal of Nanterre (France) against Abdelmoumène Khelifa, Louh stressed that "any judicial system in Algeria or elsewhere is sovereign."
Last week, Abdelmoumène Rafik Khelifa was sentenced in absentia to five-year imprisonment by the Tribunal of Nanterre (France).
The defendant, currently in jail in Algeria, was found guilty of organizing the "looting" of the company just before its liquidation, "by emptying it from some of its most significant assets," including properties and luxury cars.
In 2007, the former businessman has also been sentenced in absentia by the Criminal Court of Blida, to life imprisonment, notably on charges of conspiracy and fraudulent bankruptcy.