Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Africa

Activist Jailed in Algeria for Holding Anti-President Placard

Responding to news that a court in Algeria has sentenced a man called Hafj Ghermoul to six months in prison for a Facebook photo showing him holding a placard opposing a fifth term for the president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director, said: “The conviction of Hadj Ghermoul is a severe blow for freedom of expression in Algeria.

“It is completely absurd that he is facing six months behind bars simply for peacefully expressing his political views.

“His arrest and conviction are another signal of the Algerian authorities’ intolerance of political opposition, and a worrying sign that they are stepping up arbitrary arrests and detentions ahead of the country’s presidential elections in April.

“The Algerian authorities should quash Hadj Ghermoul’s conviction and release him immediately and unconditionally. No-one should be jailed for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression.”

Hadj Ghermoul – a human rights activist from the city of Tizi in Algeria’s north-central Mascara province – received the six-month jail sentence on 7 February 2019 in a court in the city of Mascara after being charged with “offending public bodies”.

He was arrested on 27 January, a few days after a photo was published on Facebook in which he is seen with a friend holding a sign saying “No to a fifth term in office”, referring to the ailing 81-year-old president who has been in power for nearly 20 years.

On 27 January, police officers approached Ghermoul on the street, followed him throughout the day and repeatedly verbally harassed him. When Ghermoul told the officers they should either leave him alone or arrest him, he was brought to the police station and accused of assaulting them, remaining in custody until 29 January.

Ghermoul is an activist from the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights and a member of the National Committee for the Defence of the Rights of the Unemployed.

Algeria’s ruling coalition parties recently announced they have nominated President Bouteflika as a candidate to run for a fifth term in office in the upcoming elections in April.

*Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org.uk/

 

 

_______

Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng

Copyright 2019 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Related

Africa

An Algerian court on Monday sentenced in absentia ex-energy ministry Chakib Khelil, who served under former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to 20 years in prison...

News

The French government defended media freedom and the “right to inform” on Monday as it stood by the France 24 news channel, following fierce...

Africa

Algeria has received 200,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from longstanding ally China, the official APS news agency said Thursday, boosting the North African...

Africa

A former Algerian cabinet minister detained in a corruption case has died from the COVID-19 illness, his brother said Saturday. Ex-telecom minister Moussa Benhamadi,...

Copyright ©