On Thursday, 9 July 2026, the Aokas Court in Béjaïa Province sentenced activist Amar Beri to six months’ imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars, without issuing an immediate detention order, allowing him to leave the court following the conclusion of the proceedings.
The judgment followed Beri’s appearance before the court under Algeria’s immediate appearance procedure, after the Public Prosecutor at the Aokas Court referred his case to the misdemeanor division. He was prosecuted on charges of “disseminating publications likely to harm the national interest”, under Article 96 of the Algerian Penal Code, in connection with posts he published on Facebook.
Amar Beri had been arrested by security forces on Tuesday, 7 July 2026, before his home was searched. The arrest and search have renewed concerns over his continued judicial prosecution in connection with his political activism and his peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression.
This conviction comes only weeks after the Béjaïa Court of Appeal, on 7 June 2026, upheld an earlier judgment against Beri in a separate case, sentencing him to six months’ imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars.
The present case forms part of a series of judicial proceedings brought against Amar Beri in recent months, amid a broader context of continued prosecutions targeting political activists, journalists, and human rights defenders in Algeria because of their peaceful exercise of fundamental rights, particularly the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
