Algeria: Prominent youth activist released

Algerian authorities yesterday released Ibrahim Laalami, one of the emblems of the popular movement opposing the regime, according to the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (CNLD).

After an appeal, a court sentenced Laalami to two months in prison, a sentence he had already completed, according to the CNLD.

Laalami, who has been detained since 3 June, was tried on several charges, including “insulting a state body and insulting an employee”. He had previously been jailed on 21 November 2019 and released on 16 April 2020 on charges of “inciting an unarmed gathering” when he called for demonstrations.

The young tailor went out alone in Burj Bou Arreridj in February 2019, holding a large banner against the candidacy of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika for a fifth term.

Nine days later, the peaceful Hirak movement broke out and led to Bouteflika’s resignation.

Laalami was tried on the basis of a new penal code adopted in April that human rights activists have denounced, fearful that it allows the state to interfere in the right to freedom of expression.

READ: Algeria needs serious changes after a summer of ‘conspiracy’ problems

The Algiers Court of Appeal has set 8 September as the date to hear the case of journalist Khaled Drareni, who has been sentenced to three years in prison, according to one of his lawyers.

On 10 August, 40-year-old Drareni, director of the Casbah-Tribune website, and a correspondent for the French TV 5 Monde channel and Reporters without Borders in Algeria, was sentenced to three years in prison.

Drareni was also tried on charges of “inciting an unarmed gathering and compromising national unity,” after covering an anti-establishment demonstration on 7 March 2019 in the capital.