Algeria: Journalists Farid Harbi handed three-year prison sentence, Saâd Bouakba placed under judicial supervision

Journalist and editor of the Algerian news website “Tout sur Boumerdès” (TSB), Farid Harbi, has been sentenced to three years in prison without a warrant, local media reported.

The Algerian journalist was accused of having “disseminated fake news”, following a complaint filed by the wali of Boumerdes (northern Algeria).

The facts put forward by the complainant relate to information about local news, having been published by the journalist on the Facebook page of the TSB website.

On February 4, another journalist, Saâd Bouakba, was taken into custody before being placed under judicial supervision for an article in which he addressed the ambiguous relationship of the government with the population of the wilaya of Djelfa.

According to several media, the Arabic-speaking journalist, Saâd Bouakba, was arrested by the judicial police of Algiers and placed in custody, following the self-referral of the prosecutor of the Dar El Beida court.

A large wave of arrests is being carried out against many activists, journalists and human rights defenders in Algeria where fundamental freedoms and human rights continue to be ignored, violated and deliberately undermined.

According to human rights organizations, some 300 prisoners of conscience are languishing in Algerian jails, some for more than three years and without any trial.