Algerian ex-army chief’s ally sentenced to death for ‘treason’

An Algerian military officer and close ally of the former army chief was sentenced to death on charges of “high treason.”According to the French-language daily El Watan.

Guermit Bounouira, who was close to late army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah, appeared in front of an appeals court on Thursday and was found guilty of a slew of charges, including disclosing classified information to third parties or states and endangering the army’s interests.

While courts continue to hand out death sentences in Algeria, there has been a moratorium on capital punishment since 1993.

Bounouira, who served as the once-powerful Gaid Salah’s private secretary for a time, was extradited to Algeria by Turkey in 2020.

Gaid Salah died of a heart attack in 2019, having played a key role as a powerbroker after longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika was swept from power earlier that year.

According to El Watan, Bounouira was accused of taking possession of classified military documents and using them to bargain for protected status.

Former chief of the gendarmerie, Ghali Belksir, was sentenced to life in prison in the same case.

The same sentence was also given to Larbi Zitout, a leading figure in the Islamist movement Rashad, which is based abroad after being designated a terrorist organization by Algerian authorities in 2021.

Several high-ranking Algerian officers are wanted or have been sentenced for corruption by military courts.