An Algerian journalist, prosecuted for “belonging to a terrorist organization” and “disseminating false information”, was sentenced to two years in prison. Still, he was released for having already served his sentence, an association for the defense of detained.
Mohamed Mouloudj, a journalist with the French-language daily Liberté, which ceased publication in April, was sentenced overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday to two years in prison, including one year, said the National Committee for the Release of Detainees ( CNLD).
Accusations of belonging to a terrorist organization
This sentence being covered by his pre-trial detention, which lasted more than 13 months, the court of Dar El Beida, in the eastern suburbs of Algiers, ordered his release, according to this source. Six other people, tried in the same case and in detention since September 2021, have also been released. They were all acquitted of the charge of belonging to a terrorist organization, according to one of the defense lawyers, Me Hakim Saheb.
The prosecution had requested 10 years in prison against the journalist and between 12 and 15 years in prison against his co-accused, said the CNLD. Mohamed Mouloudj was arrested on September 13, 2021 along with 15 other people, alleged members of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK), a separatist group considered terrorist by the authorities.
The arrests were made in connection with investigations into forest fires that occurred in August 2021 in Kabylie. Before his arrest, the journalist had had trouble with the security services, which had deprived him of his passport for several months. He had also been arrested several times before being released, according to his ex-colleagues.
