First Assistant Prosecutor of Dar el Beida Court, Billal Chouib, revealed the nature of acts that are classified as an electoral crime and that would prejudice electoral process as a whole, and explained that the law punishes anyone involved in these crimes with imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine, stressing that the new election law embodies the constitutional principles related to national sovereignty.
The First Assistant Prosecutor of the Republic, Billal Chouib, said that on the occasion of the electoral process, there are some actions that affect the citizen in performing his electoral duty, which is criminalized by law “to protect his voice and his free choice”. He added during his interview on Algerian television, on Thursday evening, that there are several types of electoral crimes, including those related to intentional voting after losing the right to eligibility following a judgment against this voter, declaring his bankruptcy, voting after registering in the electoral lists under false names or attributes, or voting more than once to seize the opportunity of multiple registrations.
Disturbing the electoral process or violating the exercise of the right and freedom to vote are serious crimes punishable by law
Billal Chouib explained that all these crimes are punishable by law with imprisonment of up to 3 years and a fine of about 40,000 Algerian dinars, adding that there are some crimes that are more serious than the aforementioned crimes, especially those that can affect the electoral process as a whole, including disturbing peace, electoral process, operations of the voting office, violation of the exercise of the right and freedom of voting, or the prevention of a candidate or his representative from participating in the voting process. In this case, the law shall punish such acts with imprisonment from 6 months to two years.
Punishment from 5 to 20 years for anyone involved in destroying the ballot box
Billal Chouib referred to another type, which he described as “the most dangerous of these electoral crimes,” and it is related to the destruction of the voting box, which is punishable by law from 5 to 10 years, and if it is committed within a group of people or through the use of violence, the penalty will be from 10 to 20 years and is classified as a felony, to be doubled if it is by the candidates.
