On Monday, June 15, 2026, the Sidi M’Hamed Court of First Instance in Algiers sentenced former lawyer and President of the National Organization of Algerian Women’s Competencies and Elites, Latifa Dib, to four years of imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 Algerian dinars in connection with posts she had published on Facebook.
The verdict followed her trial on June 8, 2026, on charges of “displaying publications to the public likely to harm the national interest,” an offense punishable under Article 96 of the Algerian Penal Code. During the hearing, the prosecution had requested a sentence of five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars.
The case stems from a series of statements and publications shared by Latifa Dib on social media. Prior to the initiation of legal proceedings, she had published a video in which she alleged that she had been subjected to humiliation and ill-treatment during a visit to the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf. According to her account, the incidents involved officials affiliated with the Polisario Front, and she maintained that she had been targeted as a result of incitement against her.
Subsequently, Dib published a lengthy Facebook post accompanied by photographs of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Army Chief of Staff General Saïd Chanegriha. The post took the form of an open letter containing political views, opinions, and criticism, and became the basis for the criminal proceedings that ultimately led to her conviction.
On June 2, 2026, the investigating judge at the Sidi M’Hamed misdemeanor court ordered her pre-trial detention at Koléa prison after she was brought before the public prosecutor under summary proceedings. The case was then postponed until June 8, 2026.
This conviction is part of a broader pattern of cases involving freedom of expression and online speech, amid the continued use of criminal law provisions to prosecute individuals for content published on social media. It also raises human rights concerns regarding the compatibility of custodial sentences for expression-related offenses with Algeria’s international obligations, particularly those arising from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Lire plus sur le site de SHOAA :
https://shoaa.org/fr/latifa-dib-condamnee-a-quatre-ans-de-prison-ferme-pour-une-publication-sur-facebook/
