Algeria protest movement activists jailed
Lawyers chant slogans and wave an Algerian national flag as they on September 27, 2020 calling for the independence of the judiciary.
What you need to know:
- It said earlier this month that 61 people were still behind bars for acts related to "Hirak".
- It described the three-year sentence handed down to Brahim Laalami as "incredible and unacceptable".
An Algerian court on Sunday sentenced to three years in jail a member of the "Hirak" protest movement that forced long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign last year, a rights group said.
The group, CNLD, lists prisoners of conscience in Algeria.
It said earlier this month that 61 people were still behind bars for acts related to "Hirak".
It described the three-year sentence handed down to Brahim Laalami as "incredible and unacceptable".
Khaled Tazaghart, a former deputy and anti-regime activist, was also sentenced to one year in a separate trial, the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH) added.
The Hirak movement emerged in February 2019 and led to the resignation of Bouteflika, whose plans to run for a fifth term sparked the protests.
Weekly demonstrations continued after Bouteflika's departure to demand wholesale political change, but halted in March due to restrictions to end the novel coronavirus crisis.
