A magistrate from a court on the outskirts of Algiers on July 4 sentenced singer Djamila Bentouis to prison for two years and fined her 100,000 dinars for writing and performing a song about the Algerian Hirak, a people’s protest movement that organized mass peaceful demonstrations against the Algerian regime in 2019 that resulted in the ouster of the late former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika after some 20 years in power.
Bentouis, a mother of three with French and Algerian nationalities, was first detained at the Algiers airport on February 25 upon her arrival from France to say farewell to her dying mother.
After a long interrogation, she was released to attend the funeral of her mother who had died while she was being detained. Bentouis was summoned and questioned again some days later before being taken into custody on March 3.
She was then charged under Algeria’s notorious Article 87 bis with “belonging to a terrorist organization active inside and outside the country,” “undermining national security and unity,” and “inciting an unarmed gathering,” and remanded to pre-trial detention.
According to rights NGOs, prosecutors based the charges against Bentouis on their interpretation of the lyrics of her song, which “protested the arrests and repression that had befallen activists” during the Hirak demonstrations. Prosecutors had asked for an eight-year-sentence to be imposed on the 60-year old singer.
In late June, Algerian police arrested director Omar Ferhat and editor-in-chief Sofiane Ghirous of “Algerie Scoop” after the news site broadcast a video showing an Algerian businesswoman criticizing the “marginalization” of herself and other women during a meeting of entrepreneurs with government officials.
Journalists in Algeria have reported experiencing increased persecution since President Abdelmadjid Tebboune took office four years ago, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
RSF dropped Algeria from 136th to 139th out of 180 countries in its 2024 freedom of speech rankings, citing the country’s “pressure on independent media and threats to arrest journalists.”
In June, popular news website Radio M announced that it would cease publication due to “impossible conditions” while its editor, Ihsane El Kadi, is serving a seven-year prison sentence on charges that his media company accepted foreign funds.
At least 300 political prisoners are incarcerated in Algerian prisons. Hundreds of Algerians are prohibited from leaving the national territory. Others, such as journalist Farid Alilat, have been expelled from the country as soon as they arrive at the airport.
Journalist Mustapha Bendjama, retired general, and former politician Ali Ghediri, as well as Kabyle rights activists such as Kamira Naït Sid and Mohand Berrache are also in prison on charges emanating from Article 87 bis.