Algeria: Amira Bouraoui, a political opponent, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison
The Constantine court in Algeria has handed down a 10-year prison sentence in absentia for Amira Bouraoui, a Franco-Algerian political opponent. In parallel, journalist Mustapha Bendjama has been sentenced to six months in prison for his alleged role in Amira Bouraoui’s escape to France. These pieces of information were relayed by Khaled Drareni, the representative of Reporters Without Borders, from Algerian media sources.
The prosecution had requested a 10-year prison sentence for Ms. Bouraoui and three years for the journalist.
However, Mustapha Bendjama is now immediately eligible for release, taking into account the time he had already spent in pretrial detention, according to Mr. Drareni on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
Amira Bouraoui, a 46-year-old medical doctor by training, was accused of «illegal exit from the territory» for crossing the border between Algeria and Tunisia on February 3, despite a travel ban.
She was arrested in Tunis as she attempted to board a flight to Paris.
Eventually, she managed to fly to France three days later, despite efforts by Tunisian authorities to return her to Algeria.
The Algerian government had characterized her escape as an «illegal exfiltration», aided by French diplomatic and security personnel, which led to the recall of the Algerian ambassador to Paris for consultations. Diplomatic tensions had eased in March.
Amira Bouraoui became known in 2014 for her participation in the «Barakat» movement, which opposed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s fourth term.
She later joined the «Hirak» protest movement and worked for the independent private radio station Radio M.
The Constantine court, located in northeastern Algeria, also handed down a three-year prison sentence for Ali Takaida, a border police officer, and a one-year suspended prison sentence for Amira Bouraoui’s 71-year-old mother, Khadidja, on the same charges.
The co-defendants of the activist were charged with offenses such as «forming a criminal association, illegal exit from the national territory, organizing clandestine immigration by an organized criminal network».
On February 8, Mustapha Bendjama, who served as the editor-in-chief of the French-language newspaper “Le Provincial” in Annaba (eastern Algeria), was arrested in connection with the Bouraoui case.
On October 26, he was also sentenced to 20 months in prison, with eight months being firm, alongside the Algerian-Canadian researcher Raouf Farrah, who was released after serving the same sentence.
Samir Touati
