On Sunday, French news agency AFP reported that an Algerian government plane that transported the country’s ailing president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to Switzerland for treatment two weeks ago returned to Geneva Sunday.
The Algerian government did not immediately announce the purpose of the flight but it was possible that the plane was coming to repatriate the 82-year-old leader, who has been receiving medical treatment at the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG). Bouteflika’s office has insisted that the president went to Switzerland for routine medical checkups amid speculation that his health condition is far more serious.
On Saturday, a lawyer acting on behalf of an unnamed Algerian citizen filed a petition with a Swiss court requesting that Bouteflika be placed under a trusteeship for his own protection, alleging that his “fragile health” left him vulnerable to “exploitation” by those around him.
Bouteflika, in power since 1999, has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.
epa07406584 Algerian protesters chant slogans during a protest against the fifth term of Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algiers, Algeria, 01 March 2019. Algerian authorities on 01 March braced for what are expected to be the largest protests in the Algerian capital in over a decade. Several protests and rallies were held in Algeria since Bouteflika serving as the president since 1999, announced he will be running for a fifth term in presidential elections scheduled for 18 April 2019. EPA-EFE/MOHAMED MESSARA
His recent bid to secure a fifth term at Algeria’s April 18 election has sparked massive protests in the country, dominated by youth who have called for the president to stand aside.
