The Court of First Instance in Constantine issued two new convictions against journalist and political activist Abdelkrim Zeghileche in two separate cases related to posts he published on Facebook.
On 18 June 2026, the court sentenced him to one year of imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 Algerian dinars, following his trial on 3 June 2026, on charges of “deliberately disseminating malicious news among the public that could undermine public security and public order,” under Article 196 bis of the Penal Code.
On 24 June 2026, the court issued a second ruling sentencing him to one year of imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 Algerian dinars, following his trial on 4 June 2026, on charges of “creating an account intended to promote ideas likely to incite hatred in society,” under Article 34 of Law No. 20-05 on the prevention and combating of discrimination and hate speech.
With these rulings, the total sentences handed down against Abdelkrim Zeghileche during the month of June amount to three years of imprisonment, six months of suspended imprisonment, and total fines of 350,000 Algerian dinars, across four separate cases, all related to his social media posts and his journalistic and political activities.
These rulings come amid a continuing series of prosecutions against Zeghileche, raising growing human rights concerns over the continued use of criminal proceedings to prosecute journalists and activists for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of opinion and expression, amid the expanding use of penal provisions to criminalize expression, in contradiction with Algeria’s constitutional guarantees and international obligations regarding the protection of freedom of opinion and expression.
