Algeria: acquittal of Saïd Bouteflika and three other prominent personalities
Saïd Bouteflika (d) and his brother, ex-President Bouteflika, in Algiers, April 10, 2009. (Photo illustration) Reuters / Zohra Bensemra
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
In Algeria, the courts acquitted Saïd Bouteflika, brother of the resigned ex-president, Generals Mohamed Mediene and Athmane Tartag, former leaders of the very powerful intelligence services, as well as the politician Louisa Hanoune, leader of the Workers' Party.
Accused of "conspiracy against the army and the State", they were sentenced in the first instance to 15 years in prison, in September 2019.
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It is a judicial soap opera emblematic of the Algerian revolution which ends with this final verdict in the so-called “reunion” affair.
On March 27, 2019, in the midst of an uprising against Abdelaziz Bouteflika's proposed fifth term, his brother Saïd, generals Mohamed Mediene and Athmane Tartag, as well as the politician Louisa Hanoune would have come together to hatch a "
plan to destabilize the 'army
' whose highest ranking had just turned their backs on the Head of State.
In May, a few weeks after the fall of the regime,
they were arrested
.
In September, the military court of Blida sentenced them within a few days to 15 years in prison.
These sentences were confirmed on appeal in February 2020, except for
Louisa Hanoune
who saw hers reduced to three years, including nine months closed.
She was released immediately.
Last November, the Supreme Court accepted their appeal and a new trial before the Military Court of Appeal has just ordered their acquittal.
This Saturday evening, Mohamed Mediène will leave the military clinic he had been attending for three months to sleep at home.
On the other hand, this will not be the case for Athmane “Béchir” Tartag, still subject to another legal procedure, nor for Saïd Bouteflika.
Former main adviser to his brother, nicknamed "
president-bis
", the latter must still be tried for corruption, along with former oligarchs.
Reached by RFI, one of the defendants' lawyers welcomed this acquittal.
He hopes that this decision will also benefit several dozen people arrested in recent months for "
crimes of opinion
".
According to the National Committee for the Liberation of Prisoners (CNLD) association, more than 90 people are currently detained for acts related to the protest and to individual freedoms in Algeria.
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