SHOAA for Human Rights organization expresses its deep concern over the grave violations that marred the trial proceedings of Ms. Saida Neghza, businesswoman and President of the General Confederation of Algerian Enterprises, Mr. Belkacem Sahli, President of the National Republican Alliance Party, and Dr. Abdelhakim Hammadi, physician and owner of a pharmaceutical company, during the appeals session held by Criminal Chamber No. 10 at the Algiers Court of Appeal on July 9, 2025. The session concluded with a sentence of four years of effective imprisonment and a fine of one million Algerian dinars for each of the three defendants. It is worth noting that they were previously convicted in the first instance on May 26, 2025, and sentenced to ten years of imprisonment.
The defendants were prosecuted on charges of granting undue advantage to a public official (Article 25, Paragraph 1 of the Anti-Corruption Law), inciting a public official to exploit their actual or perceived influence to obtain an undue advantage (Article 32, Paragraph 1 of the same law), and offering or promising monetary gifts in exchange for obtaining or attempting to obtain voters’ signatures (Article 300, Paragraph 1 of the Organic Law on the Electoral System). These charges stemmed from the submission of their candidacy files for the presidential elections held on September 7, 2024.
More than eighty individuals were prosecuted in connection with their participation or support for presidential candidacies, including local elected officials, businessmen, union leaders, and family members of the accused. Most were sentenced to prison terms ranging between 18 months and 3 years.
SHOAA believes that the trial session of July 9, 2025, was marked by procedural irregularities and serious violations of the rights of the defense and guarantees of a fair trial. Among the most prominent breaches:
– Detention orders were issued against the three defendants, who were previously free, during the session and even before the court entered deliberation. This constitutes a clear violation of the Constitution and the principle of collective deliberation and judicial independence.
– The content of the deliberation was leaked in advance by the presiding judge, in a blatant violation of the principle of collective deliberation, thereby undermining the legitimacy of the ruling and raising serious questions about the impartiality of the judicial process.
– Presumption of innocence was violated, particularly following public statements made by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on April 13, 2025, during an official meeting with economic operators. He stated: “Those who bought signatures will be punished; the sentence will be ten years.” This statement closely mirrored the initial court ruling and amounts to an unjustified political interference in an ongoing judicial matter, undermining judicial independence and the principle of separation of powers.
SHOAA considers that what happened to the defendants is part of a systematic campaign targeting the right to political candidacy and peaceful opposition. Undeclared restrictions were placed on a number of figures who had expressed their intent to run in the presidential elections, in clear violation of the Algerian Constitution and international conventions that guarantee the right to political participation without discrimination.
This case cannot be separated from the broader political context preceding the 2024 presidential elections, during which a wave of arrests targeted political opponents and activists across various regions of the country. These arrests were carried out due to their opposition to President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s candidacy or for merely expressing dissenting opinions. SHOAA has documented repeated use of public resources and administrative means by President Tebboune’s campaign staff, under the direct supervision of government officials while they were still in office, in clear violation of the principle of administrative neutrality.
In light of these facts, SHOAA for Human Rights declares the following:
1- Denounces the serious breaches that undermined the integrity of the trial and the legitimacy of the resulting rulings.
2- Calls for an independent and thorough investigation into the circumstances of the detention and judicial proceedings, including potential political influence and external interference in the case.
3- Urges Algerian authorities to immediately cease using the judiciary as a tool for political score-settling and to put an end to politically motivated prosecutions of opponents and activists.
4- Stresses the importance of respecting the separation of powers and guaranteeing an independent and impartial judiciary, as a fundamental pillar of the rule of law and a safeguard for rights and freedoms.
SHOAA reaffirms that justice cannot be built on exclusion or retaliation, but rather on the rule of law, fairness, and the full protection of fundamental rights and freedoms. Any deviation from these principles not only undermines the legitimacy of institutions but also erodes public trust in the state and its democratic foundations.
