ALGIERS: Algeria sentenced prominent anti-government activist Amira Bouraoui to a year in prison on Sunday amid a growing climate of repression, one of her lawyers told AFP.
"This conviction is unjust, there is no evidence. We are going to appeal," lawyer Mustapha Bouchachi said.
Bouraoui, a 44-year-old gynaecologist, is a prominent activist in the "Hirak" protest movement that secured the resignation of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika last April.
The mother of two was convicted on six counts, including "insulting Islam", "insulting the president" Abdelmadjid Tebboune, "incitement to violate lockdown" during the coronavirus pandemic.
She was also accused of inciting illegal protests, publishing "fake news" likely to jeopardise security or public order and comments that undermine national unity.
Prosecutors had sought 18 months imprisonment.
"These kind of lawsuits, which have been going on for months, won't calm the political situation. It's not the best way to open up towards society, activists and this peaceful revolution," said Bouchachi, referring to the Hirak movement.
Bouraoui was arrested at her home Wednesday and held in custody.
A former activist with the Barakat or "That's enough!" movement, she came to prominence in 2014 when she opposed Bouteflika running for a fourth term.
In recent days Algerian authorities have arrested and prosecuted numerous activists in a bid to stop protests resuming when the coronavirus lockdown is lifted.
Most prosecutions are being made under a new penal code passed hastily on April 22 amid the public health crisis.
The Hirak movement started in February 2019, and after obtaining the resignation of Bouteflika after 20 years in power, protests continued, demanding an overhaul of Algeria's political system in place since independence from France in 1962.
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