Khalida Toumi Messaoudi, one of the figures of the feminist movement in Algeria in the 1990s, has always defended herself from any embezzlement and does not hesitate to speak of political trials.
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The economic and financial penal division of the Sidi M’hamed court in Algiers sentenced the former Minister of Culture of the Bouteflika era and feminist figure Khalida Toumi to six years in prison on April 7 for corruption, according to the agency. APS official press release. KhalidaToumi, in detention since November 2020, was appearing at first instance on charges of “squandering of public funds”of“abuse of office” and “granting of undue privileges” when she was head of the Ministry of Culture. Khalida Toumi, 64, was minister from 2002 to 2014 under the presidency of Abdelaziz Bouteflika (1999-2019), ousted from power by the Hirak protests three years ago and died in September 2021.
The acts of corruption are linked, according to the prosecution, to the organization of cultural events such as Tlemcen capital of Islamic culture in 2011, the Pan-African festival in 2009 and the event Algiers capital of Arab culture in 2007. During the trial, the prosecution had requested 10 years in prison against Ms. Toumi. His co-defendants received sentences ranging from two to four years in prison. She has always defended herself from any embezzlement and claims to be the victim of a political trial.
Khalida Toumi Messaoudi was one of the figures of the feminist movement in Algeria in the 1990s as president of the Independent Association for the Triumph of Women’s Rights. She is the author of the book An Algerian woman standing. After Bouteflika’s fall on April 2, 2019 under pressure from the Hirak protest movement and the army, the judiciary launched a series of investigations into cases involving members of his entourage, including two former prime ministers and many ministers.
Algeria ranks 104th out of 180 countries in the world ranking of the corruption perception index published in January 2021 by the NGO Transparency International.