Brother of Algerian ex-leader given 12-year graft sentence

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — An Algerian court has imposed a 12-year prison sentence on the younger brother of the country’s late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika after convicting him of corruption under his brother’s 20-year rule. Once seen as one of Algeria’s most powerful men, Said Bouteflika was an unofficial counsellor to the president — who died in 2021, about two years after a pro-democracy movement forced him from office. The Algiers court late Wednesday also fined Said Bouteflika, 65, more than $500,000. In addition to the ex-leader’s brother, the court convicted of corruption and imposed prison sentences on the former chief of the Algerian employers’ association and three business magnates, among others.