According to lawyer Me Aicha Mebarek, the Tamanrasset court (1,929 km south of Algiers) on Thursday sentenced journalist Raba Karache to 12 months in prison, including 8 months, for articles on demonstrations in the country’s south.

During his trial held on 5 August, the representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested a heavy sentence of three years in prison against the correspondent of the daily “Liberte” in Tamanrasset.

They were charged with “creation of an electronic account dedicated to the dissemination of information liable to incite alienation and hatred in society”, “intentional dissemination of false information liable to undermine public order” and “undermining national security and unity”. was prosecuted for using various means for “The National Committee for the Release of Prisoners (CNLD) said.

He was placed under arrest warrant on 19 April following the publication of a series of articles in his newspaper in which he reported on the situation in an area marked by a civil protest movement against a new division.

According to his lawyers quoted by local media, there is nothing in the file to justify the charges against him. For him, Karachay is imprisoned for activities related to his profession as a journalist.

In statements to the press, Me Mustafa Bouchachi explained that in his corrupt articles, “there is no incitement to hatred and discrimination nor to national unity. There is no false information either”.

He specified that, on the contrary, he honestly and professionally reported the facts which consisted of protests and protests by citizens of certain communities of Tamanraset against the administrative division of March 29.

“There is nothing in the file except three articles, so he is being prosecuted as a journalist,” he said.

For his part, Me Zubeida Asaul observed that these articles contain only facts.

It specified that “Raba Kareche expressed no personal opinion, he merely reported a fact that occurred in Tamanraset”.

“Instead of being imprisoned, the journalist on the contrary should be thanked for what he has done,” she said.

For his part, lawyer Abdelgani Badi insisted on the trivialization of the imprisonment of journalists, which, according to him, does not serve the interests of the country.

“At least a dozen journalists have been denied their rights. This is a blow to the position of the journalist in Algeria,” he expressed regret.

According to him, these redundancies and these attempts to silence journalists are a real attack on the prestige of the country.

“The authorities believe they are serving their narrow interests by imprisoning journalists, but in reality they are damaging the image of the country,” Badi said.