On Tuesday, 28 July 2026, the Amizour Court in Béjaïa sentenced activist Omar Ait Larbi to six months’ imprisonment and a fine, with an immediate detention order, over Facebook posts in which he commented on the parliamentary elections held on 2 July 2026. The Public Prosecutor had requested a sentence of two years’ imprisonment and a fine.
Omar Ait Larbi was arrested on 2 July 2026 and released the following day with an order to appear before the judicial authorities. On Monday, 6 July 2026, he appeared before the Public Prosecutor, who referred him to trial under the immediate appearance procedure. The hearing was subsequently postponed to 14 July, then to 21 July, and again to 28 July 2026, when the court delivered its judgment.
This conviction comes amid the continued prosecution of activists and ordinary citizens for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression, particularly on social media. It reflects the ongoing erosion of safeguards protecting freedom of expression, contrary to the guarantees enshrined in the Algerian Constitution and Algeria’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the right to freedom of opinion and expression and prohibits unjustified restrictions on its exercise.
