An Algerian court has sentenced a man to life in prison for kidnapping his teenage neighbour and holding him captive for 26 years in a cellar.
The sentencing, handed down by the Djelfa Judicial Council, concluded a trial that included five defendants.
The main defendant, who reportedly posed as a “sorcerer,” received a life sentence, while two other defendants were sentenced to one year each for not reporting the abduction. Two others were acquitted.
The case began to unravel in May when authorities found Omar Bin Omran, who vanished from Djelfa in 1996 at the age of 16, alive in the cellar of his neighbour’s home.