Ms. Amira Bouraoui was sentenced twice by the Cheraga court (Algiers) to a two-year prison sentence in two separate cases, the Committee said in a publication on the social network Facebook.
The first sentence of two years in prison was handed down in the context of proceedings for “insulting a public official in the exercise of his functions”, “attacking the person of the President of the Republic” and “disseminating information likely to undermine public order”.
The prosecution had requested a three-year prison sentence and a fine of 300,000 dinars in connection with these proceedings.
The second sentence, also a two-year prison sentence, was handed down in the context of a prosecution for “attacking the precepts of Islam and the prophet”, for which the prosecution had requested a five-year prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 dinars.
Ms. Bouraoui’s trial took place on April 27, after the adjournments of April 13 and March 30 at the Cheraga court in Algiers, recalls the CNLD.
In recent weeks, several Algerian and international organizations have expressed their concerns about the repression of the right to freedom of expression in this Maghreb country.
In this sense, a large number of MEPs have questioned the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, on the intimidation and abuse of all kinds that Hirak activists are still suffering.
In a letter addressed to Mr Borell, these MEPs, from all political persuasions, state that several reports from international and national NGOs “report continued repression of peaceful activists” of the popular movement.
According to them, these reports revealed several cases of “torture and abuse against prisoners of conscience”.
MEPs believe that it is “imperative” that this violence be “the subject of an independent investigation” to identify those responsible, recalling the recent resolution of the European Parliament “on the deterioration of the human rights situation in Algeria” and which demands the launch of investigations into these repeated violations of the right to freedom of expression in the country.
Among these reports is that of the Rassemblement Actions Jeunesse (RAJ), an Algerian human rights organization, which denounced the use by the authorities in Algeria of “repression in an attempt to prevent peaceful demonstrations.”
In a statement, the RAJ denounced “security harassment and the use of repression and the arrest of dozens of demonstrators in an attempt to prevent peaceful demonstrations.”
Amnesty International, for its part, denounced “a deliberate strategy by the Algerian authorities aimed at crushing dissent”.
This is “a strategy that contradicts their promises regarding respect for human rights,” Amnesty International noted.
For her part, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, called on the government to “immediately release all those detained for peacefully participating in demonstrations.”
2024-09-19 18:14:26