The El Beidh Court of Appeal issued its decision on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, to reduce the sentence in two cases against human rights defender Larbi Taher to a total of 4 years of imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars.
In the first case, he was sentenced to two years in prison after appealing the sentence issued on September 26, 2024, which initially sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars. The charges were for insulting the President of the Republic, publishing posts intended to harm national interests, and the aggravating factor of recidivism, under Articles 144 bis, 54 bis 3, and 96 of the Penal Code.
The case dates back to May 4, 2023, when he was arrested and his house searched, then released. This was related to posts on Facebook from 2015, which he republished in 2023. In these posts, he held Algerian authorities responsible for permitting without oversight, Gulf nationals in southern Algeria for poaching that harms wildlife and plants, disturbing the ecological balance.
In the second case, he was sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars after appealing the sentence issued on September 26, 2024, which initially sentenced him to eight years of imprisonment and a fine of 1 million Algerian dinars. The charges were for insulting the President of the Republic, publishing posts intended to harm national interests with the aggravating factor of recidivism, and defaming the image of the security forces, under Articles 144 bis, 54 bis 3, 96, and 149 bis 21 of the Penal Code.
The case dates back to September 5, 2024, when he was summoned by the Cybercrime Unit of the Judicial Police in El Abiodh Sidi Cheikh. He appeared before them on September 8 and was questioned in two reports following two instructions: one from the Public Prosecutor of the El Beidh Court and the other from the El Abiodh Sidi Cheikh Court. These were about Facebook posts commenting on the presidential elections and a post about the summons he received from the Cybercrime Unit.
After his questioning, he was released the same day. He was later summoned to appear before the Public Prosecutor at the El Abiodh Sidi Cheikh Court on September 18, 2024. He appeared before the Public Prosecutor, who referred him for immediate trial in both cases. The activist Taher requested a postponement, and the judge ordered his temporary detention and adjourned the trial to the session of September 26, 2024, during which he was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment.
