Algerian jailed for 3 years for political protest memes

A supporter of Algeria's Hirak protest movement was sentenced to three years in jail on Monday for satirical social media posts mocking the government and religion, sparking condemnation from rights groups.

Walid Kechida, 25, was accused of insulting President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and "offending the precepts" of Islam in internet memes and other online posts, said Kaci Tansaout, from the CNLD prisoners' rights group.

"Walid Kechida is sadly sentenced to three years in prison with a fine," Tansaout said, adding that lawyers would appeal. "We had expected his release" from jail, he added.

Lawyer Moumen Chadi confirmed the sentence.

Human Rights Watch and the Algerian League for Human Rights (LADDH) deplored the sentence.

"Algeria's government continues its vengeance against #Hirak activists," said Ahmed Benchemsi, HRW's advocacy and communications director for the Middle East and North Africa. "Administrator of a Facebook satirical page, Walid Kechida, in prison since April 2020, was sentenced to 3 years today for... memes!," he tweeted.

LADDH vice president Said Salhi accused the government of using its authority to make a "muscled decision ahead of legislative elections" due to take place later this year.

The sentencing of Kechida "is a signal" of what's to come, he said.

The public prosecutor in Algeria's north-eastern Setif province had called for a five-year sentence, and Kechida has already spent eight months in detention awaiting trial.

Algerian authorities have arrested and prosecuted several activists in a bid to neutralise the Hirak protest movement.

Also on Monday, Toufik Hassani, a former policeman who joined the protests, was sentenced to six months in jail for "undermining the integrity of the national territory through publications on social networks," according to the CNLD.

He is already serving two years in prison after being convicted of "threatening police agents" and "divulging professional secrets on Facebook" in September last year.

Hassani had decried police repression of a student march in the capital Algiers in October 2019. (AFP)