Algeria court sentences Bouteflika brother to 15 years

Algiers: An Algerian military court has sentenced the brother of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and three co-defendants to 15 years in prison, the state APS news agency reported on Wednesday.

Said Bouteflika, widely seen as the real power behind the presidency after his brother suffered a debilitating stroke in 2013, went on trial on Monday alongside two former intelligence chiefs and a political party head.

All four faced charges of “undermining the authority of the army” and “conspiring” against the state in order to bring about regime change, in the run-up to the ageing president’s resignation in the face of mass protests earlier this year.