Rights groups slam Algeria blogger's 'shocking' prison term

Merzoug Touati was sentenced on Thursday and was arrested in 2017 after he alled for protests against a financial law

PARIS, FRANCE: Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders on Friday hit out at a 10-year prison term handed to an Algerian blogger, describing it as 'shocking' and 'unjustified'.

Merzoug Touati was sentenced on Thursday after being found guilty of providing "intelligence to agents of a foreign power likely to harm Algeria's military or diplomatic position or its essential economic interests", his lawyer Boubakeur Esseddik Hamaili said.

Touati was arrested in January 2017 after he called for protests against a new financial law on his Facebook page and posted a video interview with an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman.



"It is utterly shocking that the Algerian authorities have imposed such a heavy sentence on someone solely for expressing his peaceful opinion online," said Heba Morayef, Middle East and North Africa regional director at Amnesty International.

"Merzoug Touati's arrest, trial and sentence is further proof that freedom of expression remains under threat in Algeria, where the authorities continue to use a range of repressive laws to quell dissent," Morayef added.



Reporters Without Borders condemned the sentence as "disproportionate and unjustified."

"A social network post should not result in such a harsh punishment as imprisonment," said Souhaieb Khayati, head of the organisation's North Africa branch.

In 2018, Reporters Without Borders ranked Algeria 136 out of 180 in terms of press freedoms.