A central figure in the protest movement in Algeria, the opponent Karim Tabou was sentenced on Monday to a one-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 100,000 dinars for “undermining national security.” He therefore does not return to prison.
The opponent Karim Tabbou, central figure of the popular protest movement in Algeria, was sentenced, Monday, December 7, to a one-year suspended sentence for “undermining national security”. A relatively lenient sentence that allows him not to return behind bars.
On the other hand, he was released from the charge of “undermining the morale of the army”, following statements criticizing the regime and the army in May 2019 during a rally in Kherrata (north-east), a stronghold of anti-regime protest.
“Karim Tabbou was sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence and a fine of 100,000 dinars (around 640 euros)” by the court in Koléa, near Algiers, Me Nassima Rezazgui told AFP. of its lawyers.
“I am hurt to hear these accusations: damage to the morale of the troops and attack on national unity, I who learned politics from men like Hocine Aït Ahmed”, one of the historic leaders of independence then Socialist opponent to the regime, defended Karim Tabbou at his trial, according to Algerian media.
The prosecutor had demanded three years in prison and a fine of 100,000 dinars against the opponent.
Arrested on September 26, 2019 in connection with this case, he was imprisoned for nine months before being released on parole on July 2.
“Our fight continues for a rule of law”
In another case, Karim Tabbou was sentenced on appeal, on March 24, to one year in prison for the same count of “undermining national security”, because of a video published on his Facebook page. party, in which he criticized the military’s interference in political affairs, a sentence he has already served. He therefore remains at liberty.
“It is really unfortunate to convict a person twice on the same charge. It is a violation of the law. Our fight continues for a rule of law”, commented his lawyer.
Leader of a small opposition party not approved by the authorities, the Democratic and Social Union (UDS), Karim Tabbou is one of the best known faces of the “Hirak”, if not the most popular.
His portrait was regularly brandished during the weekly demonstrations against power in Algeria until their suspension last March in connection with the health crisis.
90 people imprisoned in connection with the protest
Karim Tabbou has recently returned to the forefront of the political scene by criticizing with virulence the French President, Emmanuel Macron, his support for his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Reproach expressed in an interview with the weekly Jeune Afrique, but also in an interview with France 24.
In total, some 90 people are currently imprisoned in Algeria in connection with the protest and / or individual freedoms. Prosecutions based, for many, on Facebook posts criticizing the authorities, according to the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (CNLD), an association in solidarity with prisoners of conscience.
Born in February 2019 from an immense fed up with Algerians, the “Hirak” calls for a profound change in the “system” in place since independence in 1962. It caused the departure of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika after 20 years in power.
