The 45-year-old gynecologist has not been placed under a committal.
Algerian activist Amira Bouraoui was sentenced, Tuesday, May 4, to two years in prison for “insulting Islam” and the same sentence for “attacking the person of the President of the Republic”, said an association of help to prisoners of conscience. “The verdict fell in the trial of Amira Bouraoui: sentenced to two years in prison for the first case, and sentenced to two years in prison for the second case,” reported the National Committee for the release of detainees (CNLD) on its Facebook page. The 45-year-old gynecologist, the mother of two children aged 12 and 16, has not been placed under a committal warrant.
“Attacking the precepts of Islam”
In the first case tried on Tuesday, the activist was accused of “violating the precepts of Islam”. The prosecution had requested five years in prison. She was to respond in the other case of “contempt of an official in the exercise of his functions”, “injury to the person of the President of the Republic” and ” dissemination of information likely to attack the ‘public order, according to the CNLD. The prosecution had asked for three years firm. In Algeria, prison sentences are not cumulative and in the event of multiple convictions, the heaviest sentence is retained. The defense must file a petition to this effect after the judgment in appeal. has already served a short prison sentence in another trial before being granted bail on July 2, 2020, along with three other opposition figures.
Opposing
An opposition figure of the Bouteflika era, she became known in 2014 as one of the leaders of the Barakat movement (“That’s enough!”), Which opposed the fourth term of the deposed ex-president. She then actively took part in the popular Hirak protest movement that erupted in February 2019. The Hirak, which pushed Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign, calls for a radical change in the political “system” in place since independence in 1962. Amira Bouraoui’s conviction comes against a backdrop of intensified repression against Hirak activists, political opponents, and journalists in June.
According to the CNLD, more than 70 people are currently imprisoned, prosecuted for acts related to Hirak and/or individual freedoms.
