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On Monday, an Algerian blogger who supports Hirak was sentenced to three years in prison after being charged with posting comics on the Internet that mock President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and religion, according to an NGO and a lawyer.
“Unfortunately, Walid Kachida was sentenced to three years in prison with the expiration date in addition to a fine. The situation is very dangerous at a time when we expected him to be released today,” said Kassi Tansaout, coordinator of the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees, an association that helps prisoners of conscience in Algeria.
“Now we must close ranks with the lawyers during the appeal,” he added. Lawyer Moamen Shady confirmed the severe sentence to AFP, accompanied by a fine of 500,000 dinars (3,000 euros).
The prosecutor of Setif (northeast) had requested five years in prison against Walid Kachida (25 years) accused of “insulting a legal body, insulting the president of the republic and insulting those known to religion.”
And the activist known to the Setif Youth was arrested about eight months ago for posting comic images on social networking sites, which he considered violating the authorities and religion.
He posted his cartoons on the Facebook page of the “Hirak Mims” group.
Said Salehi, vice president of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, wrote: “The authority adheres to the authoritarian roadmap and decides another hard-line step in preparation for the legislative elections, and the toughening of penalties is the proof”.
Legislative elections are scheduled for Algeria in 2021, and President Tebboune, who recovered from the Corona virus after being treated for two months in Germany, made drafting the new electoral law one of his priorities.
“The Algerian government continues to retaliate against Hirak activists,” Ahmed Benshemsi, a regional Human Rights Watch official, wrote on Twitter.
Hunger strike: there are more than 90 people in prison in Algeria currently connected with the movement or individual freedoms. The prosecutions are based, in at least 90 percent of cases, on Facebook posts critical of authorities, according to the National Committee for the Release of Detainees.
Human rights organizations denounce the repression of freedom of expression on the Internet in Algeria, from the censorship of content published on social networks and legal measures against Internet users to the censorship of electronic media.
The case of Walid Kachida has become a symbol of the restriction and repression of freedom of expression on social media in Algeria.
Many Internet users call for his release, with a photo of him wearing two sunglasses attached to slogans including “Free Kashida!” And “comics are not a crime!” On Facebook and Twitter.
Legal cases similar to the Kashida case multiplied in 2020.
Mustafa bin Jameh, editor-in-chief of a newspaper in Annaba (northeast), is currently on trial in four cases, all related to his Facebook posts. Among the charges against him are “attempting against the national interest.”
Benjameh told AFP that the authorities “doubled the number of cases to increase the possibility of conviction.”
According to the Minister of Communications and government spokesman Ammar Belhimer, “there are no prisoners of conscience in Algeria.”
In Algiers, three detainees went on hunger strike more than a week ago to denounce the extension of their detention period.
Muhammad Tadjadet, Nuruddin Khimoud and Abdelhak bin Rahmani, who are carrying out the same case, have been held in El Harrach prison for more than four months.
They bring ten charges, including undermining national unity, inciting an unarmed assembly, insulting the President of the Republic and spreading false news, according to the National Committee for the Release of Detainees.
His posts and videos that circulated on social media have become part of the lawsuits.
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