ALGERIA JAILS DEPOSED PRESIDENT'S BROTHER.

Said Bouteflika, brother of Algerian president, attends the funeral of late Algerian singer Warda Al-Jazairia, one of the most famous singers in the Arab world, at the El-Alia cemetery in Algiers, in this May 19, 2012.
Image: AFP.

Algers, ALGERIA:
An Algerian military court on Wednesday sentenced the brother of deposed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and three co-defendants to 15 years in prison in a swift verdict delivered out of sight of the media.

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.

Their convictions are the most high-profile in a string of prosecutions of prominent politicians and businessmen over alleged graft launched since Bouteflika was pushed out in April after two decades in power.

All four defendants were convicted of "undermining the authority of the army" and "conspiring" against the state, in the run-up to the ageing president's resignation in the face of mass protests earlier this year.

Prosecutors at the military court in Blida, south of Algiers, had asked for the maximum sentence of 20 years against all the defendants, defense lawyer Miloud Ibrahimi said.

Former Defense Minister Khaled Nezzar has said that as protests mounted against the veteran leader, Said Bouteflika proposed declaring a state of emergency and firing army chief General Ahmed Gaid Salah.

Lawyers for Workers' Party chief Louisa Hanoune have admitted she met the president's brother and General Mohamed Mediene on March 27, a day after Gaid Salah publicly called for the ailing president to step down.

Hanoune, Mediene — who headed the all-powerful secret service for 25 years — and fellow ex-spy chief General Athmane Tartag were all given 15 years alongside Said Bouteflika, state news agency APS reported.

Defence counsel expressed indignation at the trial's speed and lack of transparency.

"I have absolutely nothing to say about this trial except that we will appeal," defense lawyer Miloud Brahimi said.

One of Mediene's lawyers, Farouk Ksentini, said he was "surprised by the severity of the verdict."

One of the lawyers for Hanoune's Workers Party, Ramdan Tazibt, said the trial was "political" and an "attack on democracy".

He said counsel for Hanoune had "showed there was no reason for her to be detained let alone convicted."

Nezzar, his son Lofti, and a former businessman Farid Benhamdine, were all sentenced to 20 years in absentia, APS said.

The retired general has for weeks been on the run in Spain, where he has been joined by his son, according to Algerian media reports.

Nezzar was at the head of the army in 1992 when it cancelled the electoral process, denying Islamist groups a victory at the polls and pitching the country into a devastating, decade-long civil war.

A Swiss court in mid-2018 cleared the way for Nezzar to face war crimes charges after he was arrested in Switzerland.

In a complaint filed by rights group TRIAL International, a group of alleged victims accused him of torture and arbitrary arrests.

Said Bouteflika's detention in May was part of a wave of arrests targeting the ousted president's inner circle.

But many fear they are little more than a high-level purge and a power struggle between still-powerful regime insiders, rather than a genuine effort to reform the state.

The hearings were restricted to lawyers and defendants' families, with media kept out of the courtroom.

Mediene, whose health has been deteriorating according to his family, arrived in court in a wheelchair and asked for an adjournment, according to defense lawyers. The judge consulted a doctor and turned down the request.

Known as Toufik, Mediene headed the all-powerful DRS intelligence agency from its foundation in 1990 up to his fall from grace in 2015.

Tartag, his deputy, succeeded Mediene and when the DRS was dismantled in 2016 he served as Algeria's security coordinator under the supervision of the presidency.

Presidential elections have now been set for Dec. 12.

But protesters have kept up demands for political reforms and the removal of the former president's loyalists, including army chief Gaid Salah, who has emerged as Algeria's strongman since Bouteflika's fall.

Comments

CUBA CLAIMS CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER IS FIDEL CASTRO'S SON.

The suicide note left by Fidel Castro’s eldest son has rocked the Cuban nation this week, with the most astonishing revelation being the claim that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was his half-brother and the son of the late Fidel Castro. The handwritten note left by Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, 68, the eldest of Fidel Castro’s children, appears to confirm the longstanding rumor in Cuba that Fidel Castro fathered Justin Trudeau after a public tryst with Margaret Trudeau in 1970. “ Castro Diaz-Balart, who had been attended by a group of doctors for several months due to a state of profound depression, committed suicide this morning ,” Cubadebate website reported. The death of the high-profile government nuclear scientist, also known as “Fidelito”, or Little Fidel, because of how much he looked like his father, stunned the nation, however it is his “ explosive ” suicide note that has set tongues wagging in Havana. Amid a wide-ranging barrage of compl...

MALARIA VACCINE PROVES HIGHLY EFFECTIVE IN BURKINA FASO.

A vaccine against malaria has been shown to be highly effective in trials in Africa, holding out the real possibility of slashing the death toll of a disease that kills 400,000 mostly small children every year. The vaccine, developed by scientists at the Jenner Institute of Oxford University, showed up to 77% efficacy in a trial of 450 children in Burkina Faso over 12 months. The hunt for a malaria vaccine has been going on the best part of a century. One, the Mosquirix vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, has been through lengthy clinical trials but is only partially effective, preventing 39% of malaria cases and 29% of severe malaria cases among small children in Africa over four years. It is being piloted by the World Health Organization in parts of Kenya, Ghana and Malawi. The Oxford vaccine is the first to meet the WHO goal of 75% efficacy against the mosquito-borne parasite disease. Larger trials are now beginning, involving 4,800 children in four countries. Prof ...

NAMIBIA VOWS TO GRAB FARMS FROM WHITE FARMERS.

Okahandja, NAMIBIA: Vibrant rows of neatly lined plants grow on a patch once trampled by the cattle of a large commercial farm run by a family of German descent in Namibia. From that 2,400 square-meter rectangle of sand in the northern Otjozondjupa region, Kornelius Hamasab, 69, now produces spinach, onions and tomatoes. Hamasab is among the 16 percent of black Namibians owning arable land in the semi-desert southwest African nation. White Namibians, who are descended from former colonizers Germany and South Africa and make up six percent of the population, own 70 percent of the land. "It doesn't seem right to me," said Hamasab, who acquired his land as compensation five years after the farm downsized into a guesthouse in 2000 and laid off its staff. "The government should do something about it," he added, while his family picked and rinsed collared greens to be sold in the capital Windhoek, 150 kilometers away. Namibia adopted ...

McDONALD MARIGA EXPLAINS WHY HE DUMPS SOCCER FOR POLITICS.

Nairobi, KENYA: McDonald Mariga has announced he has quit active football in a decision that brings down the curtains on a glittering career spanning 16-years. Instead, the 32-year old has joined active politics and is set to contest for the Kibra constituency seat in the forthcoming by-elections in November. He was on Monday evening unveiled as Jubilee Party's candidate for the mini-poll. Earlier on Monday, he had gone to the party's offices in Parklands for the interviews accompanied by dozens of his supporters donning his political party's red and yellow colours t-shirts and waving placards which bore messages supporting his candidature. Former Kenyan international McDonald Mariga with supporters at Jubilee Party headquarters on Sept. 2, 2019. Image: Citizen. "I have retired from football and have decided to go and give back to the community," he told journalists. Son of football great, retired coach and adminis...

4000 ZIMBABWEANS TO GET KENYAN CITIZENSHIP.

Nairobi, KENYA: The dream of recognition for at least 4 000 members of the Zimbabwean community living in Kenya came closer to reality at last as the government began issuing them with birth certificates. For years, the ‘Shonas’, whose forefathers originated from Zimbabwe, have lived in Kenya without legal documents, denying them basic rights including education. While they still do not have identity cards, which would make them legally Kenyans, they celebrated this as a step closer to citizenship. In front of invited guests, a group of women sang a Kikuyu song in praise of those who have made it possible for them to reach this milestone. Nothing unusual about that; only the group are not members of Kenya’s Kikuyu community. They are Shonas whose forefathers originated from Zimbabwe. In 1961, the first members of the Shona community arrived in Kenya as missionaries and settled in the central part of the country without any form of identification. Th...

A MODEL SOLD HER VIRGINITY FOR $3 MILLION TO THE ARABIAN BILLIONAIRE.

A model claims she has auctioned her virginity for nearly $3million (£2.2million) - and says it is a 'dream come true' for her. Giselle, 19, who is based in the US, says she decided to sell her virginity through the notorious German-based website Cinderella Escorts. The agency claims the highest bidder was a businessman from Abu Dhabi, with a bid of 2.5m Euros ($2.9m/£2.2m), while a Hollywood actor was said to have made the second highest bid of 2.4m Euros ($2.8m/£2.1m). Giselle says she will use the money to pay for her college fees, buy a new house, and go traveling around the world. Watch the Video below: The model said: 'I am happy to have decided to sell my virginity through Cinderella Escorts. 'I would never have dreamt that the bid would rise so high and we would have reached 2.5million Euros. This is a dream come true.' Giselle said she was 'shocked' by the outrage against women selling her virginity, describing it as...

THE REASON WHY GRACE MUGABE FILES FOR DIVORCE.

Grace Mugabe files for Divorce after Robert Mugabe resignation – Grace Mugabe Wants Divorce After Mugabe Offered To Send Grace To Exile In Order To Remain As President. Zimbabwe’s First Lady Grace Mugabe Files For Divorce. Zimbabwean First lady, Grace Mugabe is leaving her twenty one year marriage over concerns about her role as an irresponsible former First Lady of Zimbabwe and a bane on the nation’s economy. The world is in shock today after sources close to the Mugabe family confirmed that Grace Mugabe has filed for divorce on Wednesday. The South African born woman has voiced concerns over her role as the former First Lady of Zimbabwe, claiming that it’s about time she enjoys some peaceful life and she is not prepared to be ridiculed for the years ahead, her ostracism and her husband’s resignation as the leader of Zimbabwe have gradually grown into life threatening headache. The South African born woman has voiced concerns over her role as the former First Lady of Zimba...

POPE FRANCIS COMPETES WITH PABLO ESCOBAR FOR REVERENCE.

Medellín (Colombia) (AFP): In her hair salon, Yamile Zapata is taking advantage of Pope Francis's visit to sell key rings with his face on it. But that's not where the real money is in Medellin. Most of the gifts she sells in this Colombian city bear the mustachioed face of its own saint and anti-hero: Pablo Escobar, late boss of the cocaine cartel immortalized in the hit Netflix series "Narcos." While Francis was ministering and teaching as a Jesuit priest in the 1980s, Escobar was killing hundreds of people and trafficking billions of dollars' worth of hard drugs. "Everyone wants a pope souvenir right now. But Pablo sells better," said Zapata, 34, as the city prepared for Francis's open-air papal mass Saturday. Souvenirs with the images of Pope Francis and late Pablo Escobar for sale at a store in Medellin. Francis offered words of sympathy for victims of drug-related violence in the city. But in spite of it all, some in Medellin r...

STUDY SHOWS "DTP VACCINE" KILLS MORE BABIES THAN IT SAVES.

A shocking 2017 study published in Ebiomedicine (a peer-reviewed open access online-only medical journal) reveals that the DTP vaccine kills ten times more babies than it saves. Researcher Søren Wengel Mogensen examined the mortality rates of infants between the ages of 5 and 5 months who were given early vaccinations for DTP (Diptheria-Tetanus-Pertussis) and OPV (Oral Polio Vaccine). They found that there was a 10-fold mortality rate compared to infants who did not receive the vaccine: Results Among 3–5-month-old children, having received DTP (± OPV) was associated with a mortality hazard ratio (HR) of 5.00 (95% CI 1.53–16.3) compared with not-yet-DTP-vaccinated children. Differences in background factors did not explain the effect. The negative effect was particularly strong for children who had received DTP-only and no OPV (HR = 10.0 (2.61–38.6)). All-cause infant mortality after 3 months of age increased after the introduction of these vaccines (HR = 2...

9 BUTCHERIES CLOSED BY SELLING MEAT PRESERVED BY VAMALIN (CHEMICAL FOR PRESERVING DEAD BODIES).

Kampala Capital City Authority law enforcement team have carried out an operation in which two people have been arrested and 9 butcheries closed over poor hygiene and use of toxic chemicals to preserve meat. The operation was carried out this morning in Kalerwe and Ntinda following the several complainants from the public. Peter Kauju the Kcca spokesperson says 9 butcheries were found unhygienic and two people were arrested after they found them with some deadly chemicals believed to be used to preserve dead bodies. Kauju warned that the operation will continue in the entire city to avoid any elements where people are using deadly chemicals to preserve meat. Kauju adds that the two people arrested will appear in court of law. Recently, there was a public outcry after reports came out that meat sellers in Kampala are using Vamalin used to preserve dead bodies in preserving meat. This followed after a pregnant mother recently lost battle in one of the city...

Kioo17 Journal

Search This Blog