Algeria’s former defense minister General Khaled Nezzar has launched a legal battle against his business rivals.
His only partner in the Smart Link Communication (SLC) Company, Mouloud Meghzi, has been in jail since Dec. 14 after he filed a lawsuit against Nezzar and accused him of “fraud and forgery.”
On Wednesday, a court in Algiers postponed reviewing a counter lawsuit filed by Nezzar and his five sons against Meghzi, an American citizen and relative of the former minister’s wife who has been residing in the US for more than 30 years.
The case was adjourned to February at the request of the defense team, which asked for time to read all the documents.
One of Meghzi’s lawyers said he was accused of “targeting the army’s morale” based on “WhatsApp” calls with Hichem Aboud, the wanted former intelligence officer who is residing in France.
He affirmed that Meghzi only shared information and photos belonging to Nezzar and his two sons, Lotfi and Sofiane.
He wondered why his client has been given army-linked charges while his chats and calls with Aboud only tackled his business dispute with Nezzar and his family.
Sending Meghzi to pretrial detention is “arbitrary” since he could be prosecuted out of prison, the lawyer stressed.
“Meghzi is a prominent figure known for specializing in communications techniques and Internet services in Algeria and many countries,” he added.
The US embassy in Algeria has been following up his case, and the US consul attended the court hearing on Wednesday.
In 2019, Meghzi filed the lawsuit against Nezzar, and accused him and his sons of “falsifying” the company’s contracts and raising their contributions to its capital while reducing his share to an extent that prevents him from making any decision regarding its activities.
He also filed a lawsuit against Nezzar’s family in the US since the company has implemented projects there.
Meghazi was the company’s CEO and co-founder for 20 years.
Nezzar was sentenced by the military court in absentia to 20 years in prison on charges of “undermining the authority of the army” and “conspiring” against the state, and he had sought refuge in Spain with his family.
Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah, who died in late 2019, had backed the charges amid a personal dispute that dates back to the liberation revolution, when Nezzar was still a member of the colonial army.
The charges were dropped and the case was closed a year after Salah’s death and Nezzar then returned from his self-imposed exile on Dec.11, 2020.
