Algeria jails journalist amid crackdown on Hirak movement

A woman wearing a protective face mask takes part to a demonstration in front of the United Nations Office in Geneva against “arbitrary arrests” in Algeria, on 23 August 2020. [FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images]

An Algerian court sentenced journalist and pro-democracy activist Abdelkrim Zeghileche to two years in prison on charges that include “harming national interests” and “insulting the president”, AFP reported, citing the defendant’s lawyer.

Zeghileche, who is believed to have been sentenced over his reporting on the Hirak protest movement, was also fined 100,000 Algerian dinars ($778.87).

The Algerian activist’s lawyer said his defendant will appeal the ruling.

Earlier in August, another journalist, Khaled Drareni, was also sentenced to three years in prison and fined 50,000 Algerian dinars ($389.13), also as a result of his reporting on the Hirak protest movement, which has been calling for radical changes since February 2019.

Local and international human rights groups have criticised the Algerian authorities’ crackdown on activists and journalists in an attempt to suppress the Hirak movement.

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