Algeria activist Bouraoui gets two years in jail

The 45-year-old doctor was sentenced for 'offending Islam' and insulting the president.

1 min read

04 May, 2021

Bouraoui is a member of Algeria's Hirak protest movement [Getty]

Algerian activist Amira Bouraoui was on Tuesday sentenced to two years in jail for "offending Islam" and for insulting the president, a prisoners' rights group said.

The CNLD group said Bouraoui, a 45-year-old gynaecologist and mother of two, was not placed under arrest, pending an appeal.

She was handed two-year prison terms on each of the two separate charges, but will serve only two years in total.

A longstanding member of the "Hirak" anti-regime protest movement, she already served a short prison sentence before being provisionally released last July along with three other opposition figures.

According to CNLD, more than 70 people are being held in jail in Algeria in connection with Hirak or other cases related to freedom of expression.

For the second week in a row, police prevented the weekly student march in Algiers that is held on Tuesdays, detaining dozens of people, an AFP journalist said.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay connected