FILE - In this Thursday, May 4, 2017 file photo, Said Bouteflika, the brother of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, takes ballots before voting in Algiers.
A military appeal court in Algeria on Saturday has cleared the brother of the country's longtime former leader, two ex-intelligence chiefs and the leader of a leftist political party who had all been accused of plotting against the state.
Among the four defendants was Said Bouteflika, the brother and once-powerful special counsellor of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who forced to resign from office in April 2019 amid growing peaceful street protests.
Khaled Berghel, the lawyer for Said Bouteflika, told the official APS news agency that the Blida military appeal court decided to clear the four defendants.
Saturday’s ruling comes after the Supreme Court decided in November to quash the previous verdict and retry the case.