Algeria: judge issues prison notice to professors for Facebook posts

A court in eastern Algeria has issued an enforceable imprisonment judgement against university Professor Hakima Sabayhi relating to her Facebook posts. Sabayhi now faces six months in prison and a fine of 50,000 dinars on charges of insulting the President of the Republic and a statutory body. She was acquitted of other charges, but can still appeal against the judgement to Béjaia Judicial Council.

Sabayhi was summoned for investigation in May, when she was charged and placed under the judicial supervision system, requiring her to sign-in at the court weekly. This requirement was then cancelled.

Since the news of her prosecution broke, many academic peers, politicians and citizens have stood in solidarity with Sabayhi. They contend that her trial was part of the effort to restrict activists and prevent them from expressing their opinions.

According to the former head of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), Mohsen Bel Abbas, Sabayhi is a “citizen who expressed through her actions, movement, thoughts and discourse the meaning of political awareness that could facilitate dialogue if allowed to spread in society.”

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Known for her participation in the Hirak Movement that started in February 2019, she also adopted its demands for radical change. She was one of those who rejected the fourth term of the late President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2014 and participated in demonstrations in the capital calling for preventing him from standing for election again. For this she was arrested.

In a similar case, the Court of El Hadjar in eastern Algeria has issued a one-year enforceable imprisonment notice and a fine of 300,000 dinars against another university professor. Latifa Lounisi faced charges of “misdemeanour by publishing false and malicious news that would harm public security and public order; publishing [social media] posts that may harm the national interest; calling for an unarmed gathering; insulting the President of the Republic; and insulting a statutory body.”

Lawyer Said Zahi, a member of the defence committee for prisoners of conscience and the Hirak Movement, who also defended Sabayhi, wrote on Facebook that Professor Lounisi was prosecuted for a “respectable” post on Facebook in which she reminded the Algerian president to abide by his promise in the election campaign “to reveal the location of the funds looted by the ruling group affiliated with the ousted president [Abdelaziz Bouteflika], and to clarify the fate of these funds.” The question, said Zahi, was asked because Lounisi is a professor of economics and finance, and an Algerian citizen enjoying her full rights.