The Algerian prosecution sentenced journalist Rabah Kareche on Thursday to three years in prison after being detained for 109 days for propagation of “fake news.”
Kareche, correspondent for the French language newspaper Liberté, stood accused of propagating “false information,” the creation of a fake online account devoted to the dissemination of “information liable to provoke segregation and hatred in society,” as well as having “undermined national safety and unity,” AFP reported.
The journalist was indicted and imprisoned on April 19 after publishing the report of a protest movement by the Touaregs, a local Berber minority.
Journalists and activists have been calling for the release of Kareche, calling his prolonged detention a “violation of the presumption of innocence” and an “attempt to influence justice”.
The Algerian government introduced in 2020 a law criminalizing the dissemination of “false news” that “harms national unity,” handing prison sentences of two to five years, and a fine of up to USD3 891.
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