Toppled Algerian President’s Brother Acquitted of Grave Accusations

After more than a year in jail, the brother of ousted Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, along with two other senior security officials, was acquitted on Saturday of charges of conspiracy against the state. Said Bouteflika, who was said to be the de facto ruler of Algeria following his long-serving brother’s severe stroke in 2013, was arrested in May 2019 during the mass protests led by the Hirak movement that toppled the government and ushered in current President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s administration. Bouteflika was charged with plotting against the state and was sentenced to 15 years in prison but a military tribunal retried his case in accordance with a Supreme Court order. He now awaits a separate trial over alleged corruption during his brother’s reign. Despite the change in government and the imprisonment of a slew of prominent ex-officials, Hirak protesters have decried Tebboune’s latest reforms as insufficient and largely symbolic, demanding sweeping, radical constitutional changes.