Said Bouteflika, the youngest brother of former Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, is facing serious charges of attempting to manipulate the national justice system by influencing judges working on cases related to his business connections.
Last Thursday, an Algerian judge ordered placing Bouteflika in pretrial detention. He was a part of an investigation involving former Justice Minister Tayeb Louh, who has been in prison for months now.
Louh is accused of covering corruption involving business tycoons close to Bouteflika, namely Ali Haddad, who was indicted in a major graft case.
The investigating judge questioned Bouteflika about phone conversations he had with Louh over the past years, some of which included directions given to the justice minister to overlook legal complaints filed against a number of businessmen.
Louh had confessed to following orders he received from Bouteflika, who at the time was serving as a top presidential aid. This led to freezing many cases filed against businessmen close to the Bouteflika regime.
Last year, a military court in Algeria sentenced Bouteflika to 15 years in prison for plotting against the state and undermining the army.
He was tried alongside two former intelligence chiefs, General Athmane Tartag and General Mohamed Mediene, as well as Louisa Hanoune, the head of the leftist Workers’ party, who were all handed 15-year sentences after a two-day trial held behind closed doors.
Bouteflika had wielded enormous influence as gatekeeper to his ailing brother who was incapacitated by a stroke in 2013 and forced out of office by the army in April after weeks of popular protests against plans to allow him a fifth term in office.
The former president’s brother was seen as the linchpin of an opaque clique of politicians and business leaders who influenced decision-making at the top of the gas-exporting north African country.
