A major Algerian political prisoner has offered the government financial assistance to improve the conditions for inmates in the prison he has been jailed in for one year.
Businessman Rachid Nekkaz has also complained about the poor meals provided by the prison administration.
Nekkaz’s advocate team posted a message on his official social media account on Friday, addressing Justice Minister Belkacem Zeghmati.
The message included a proposal for a financial contribution to the budget allocated for Kolea Prison, in the western suburb of the capital, Algiers.
He further expressed his suffering from the imprisonment conditions, stressing that inmates have not eaten meat, desserts, or fruits for three months now.
“For example, during the past nine days, we have eaten lentils and beans four times, as in wartime,” the post read.
All of the 4,000 prisoners have been complaining about the poor meals they’ve been having since the prison administration prevented their families from bringing them food in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, he added.
“I have suffered from dirty water,” he noted, adding that it is no longer possible for the situation to continue any longer in the “new Algeria that you (Zeghmati) represent,” in sarcastic reference to President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s electoral campaign slogan dubbed “New Algeria” when he took power in 2019.
“Until the president recovers the money looted and transferred (abroad) by ousted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s mafia, as he (Tebboune) promised after winning the elections, I urgently offer my financial assistance so that all inmates in Kolea prison can eat meat and chicken twice a week as happened with France (during colonialism) in 1962, i.e. 60 years ago.”
He sarcastically said he is waiting for a response as soon as possible to put an end to this “food scandal.”
Nekkaz, 48, is known for paying fines for women who choose to wear the full Islamic veil in countries like France and Switzerland, where it is against the law to do so in public.
He gave up his French nationality to run for the presidential elections in 2014.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat before being jailed that he had transferred his huge wealth from France to banks in the United States.
Nekkaz was arrested on Dec. 4, 2019 due to his hostile activity against the presidential elections that took place in the same month.
He was jailed over criminal charges and was accused of “inciting to bear arms” and “preventing citizens from their right to vote through an orchestrated plan.”
In response to the charges, the businessman said he was in the process of engaging in political activity as an opposer to the regime and its policies.
