An Algiers court has acquitted prominent protest movement activist Fodil Boumala.
Boumala was released on Sunday after fives months in “arbitrary detention” following accusations of “undermining national territorial integrity,” according to one of his defense lawyers.
The ‘Hirak’ protest movement was a popular initiative which emerged in February of 2019 against corruption and demanded then president Abdelaziz Bouteflika abandon a bid for a fifth term in office.
The activist’s friends and supporters were optimistic about his release after the trial heard last week that the charge against him was not based on supporting evidence. Boumala was accused of posting videos deemed “offensive to the army” on his social media accounts.
Boumala addressed the judge saying he is a citizen and intellectual who opposes the regime, not the state, adding that authorities in Algeria deliberately confuse a political attack on its policies with undermining the country's unity.
“No one has given me my freedom because I am a free person,” he told a crowd of activists, journalists, and supporters who had gathered outside the prison awaiting his release.
Hirak members are hopeful that another political activist, Karim Tabbou, will be acquitted and released as well. Tabbou will go on trial on Wednesday on charges similar to that of Boumala.
Meanwhile, Algiers’ Court of Appeal continued the trial of former politicians, including two prime ministers, and a number of businessmen who had previously received prison sentences on corruption charges.
Former Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal appeared before the court and demanded former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika be brought as a witness in the corruption case in the car assembly business.
Sellal told the judge that his job was to coordinate between the ministers and Bouteflika, who is responsible for implementing the policies that he personally devised. He affirmed that he never made personal benefits during his time as a public servant.
The former PM asserted that despite being unable to conduct business due to illness, Bouteflika followed on every detail through his brother and former adviser, al-Saeed, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for “conspiring against the army and the state.”
The misdemeanor court issued its rulings on the eve of the presidential elections and the defendants received harsh penalties, namely former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia who was sentenced to 15 years in prison, Abdelmalek Sellal to 12 years, and former Minister of Industry and Mines Youcef Yousefi and Mahdjoub Bedda, each to 10 years.
All the defendants attended Sunday’s session.
The judiciary also sentenced former Minister of Industry Abdeslam Bouchouareb in absentia to 20 years in prison, and issued an international arrest warrant against him.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
