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Said Bouteflika: I have secrets that can shake the Algerian State

October 14, 2021 at 4:32 pm

Said Bouteflika (C), advisor and brother of the late Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika on May 19, 2012, in Algiers, Algeria [FAROUK BATICHE/AFP/Getty Images]

Said Bouteflika, advisor and brother of the late Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, said that he preferred silence over revealing secrets that would shake the foundations of the State.

This came in his last speech before the criminal court on Tuesday, before he was sentenced to two years in prison with enforcement, on charges of interfering in the work of the judiciary.

He added that he was a victim of social media platforms and journalists, noting that he was implicated in this case by an investigation carried out by a colonel.

He said: “(The colonel) threatened me, and I was a witness in this case, so I became an accused based on a false report, a question and an answer without me answering the questions.”

He continued, “I made a vow to follow the path of the former, according to what my brother Abdelaziz Bouteflika said to the late Houari Boumediene … Sleep well, I now know how men die.”

He concluded: “God willing, I die in silence and dignity, because I have secrets that if we reveal them, we would have shaken the pillars of the dear Algerian State. I am a victim of social media and journalists.”

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Said Bouteflika, businessman, Ali Haddad and the former inspector general of the Ministry of Justice, Ben Hashem Al-Tayeb, face several charges, including the felony of incitement to forge official documents, incitement to bias and participation in incitement to prejudice and abuse of office, in addition to obstructing of good governance and participation in obstruction of justice.

On 25 September 2019, the military court in Blida had sentenced Said Bouteflika and other officials to 15 years in prison for the felony of “conspiring against the authority of the State and undermining the authority of the army”, before it ruled acquittal during the appeal last January.

Said Bouteflika has been in El-Harrach prison since December 2020, after being convicted in three corruption cases.

Said enjoyed strong power during his brother’s rule in Algeria, especially during his illness, that is, after 2013.