Brother of Algeria’s Bouteflika, Intel Chiefs Sentenced to Jail
Brother of Algeria’s Bouteflika, Intel Chiefs Sentenced to Jail
(Bloomberg) -- Former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s brother and two powerful former intelligence chiefs were sentenced early Wednesday to 15 years on charges of conspiring against the military, in an expedited trial authorities hoped would reflect a commitment to purging the old guard.
The sentences against Said Bouteflika, retired Lt.t Gen. Mohamed Mediene and Maj. Gen. Athmane Tartag came just two days after they went on trial in a closed session before a military court. Also sentenced to 15 years was Louisa Hanoune, the secretary-general of the Labor Party, Echorouk TV and state television reported.
The four had been arrested shortly after Bouteflika resigned from office following weeks of mass protests against him. The demonstrations have continued, as protesters demand the removal of the remnants of the regime in defiance of pressure by the powerful military chief-of-staff, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Gaid Salah, who insists that elections are the only way for the OPEC member to achieve stability and growth.
Mediene, who was more commonly known as the country’s kingmaker, is widely seen by Algerians as the embodiment of the secrets and trauma stemming from the country’s ruinous civil war in the 1990s.
The trial was seen as a settling of scores among the ruling elite, of which Gaid Salah is a member. The decision to try Mediene and the others marked an attempt by the interim government to show a true commitment to purging the nation of the former regime elements -- a bid that has largely been dismissed as a farce by protesters.
To contact the reporter on this story: Souhail Karam in Rabat at skaram10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Tarek El-Tablawy, Paul Abelsky
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