Algeria: ex-Sonatrach chiefs convicted

After a trial shrouded in secrecy, the criminal court in Oran has finally handed down sentences on disgraced Sonatrach president director-general Mohammed Meziane, ex-interim PDG and downstream vice president Abdelhafid Feghouli and three co-defendants, who were accused of misappropriating public funds and short-circuiting the tender process by awarding contracts on a gré-à-gré (directly negotiated) basis.