Former Algerian justice minister, Tayeb Louh, appeared before the Sidi M’hamed Court in Algiers on June 16 to face charges of illicit enrichment and false asset declarations.
However, the trial was postponed due to the absence of civil parties.
Louh, visibly frail and gaunt following recent open-heart surgery, stood in the dock nearly six years after his imprisonment in 2019.
Once a central figure in the Bouteflika administration, he now faces a new wave of judicial proceedings that will likely extend his incarceration at El Harrach prison.
The former minister had hoped to be released in 2024, but this latest case has dashed those expectations.
A longtime confidant within the presidential inner circle during Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s presidency, Louh was widely criticised for allegedly weaponising the judiciary to protect key allies while drawing the ire of now-dominant figures in Algeria’s military and security establishment.
SL/ac/sf/lb/as/APA