Algiers (AFP)

An activist of "Hirak", the anti-regime protest movement in Algeria, was released on Thursday after spending more than nine months in prison for having owned a giant banner calling for civil disobedience, according to his lawyer.

Incarcerated since August 24, 2019, Chérif Ghessoul was sentenced on Thursday to six months in prison by the court in Bordj Bou Arreridj, south-east of Algiers, Arezki Aliouat told AFP to appeal.

He was on trial "for having in his possession a giant tifo which called for" civil disobedience ", a flagship slogan of + Hirak + at the time," said Me Aliouat, who denounced "an imaginary motif".

The 49-year-old father nevertheless left the prison and reunited with his family because he has already served his sentence, said the lawyer.

Before the mid-March suspension of "Hirak" because of the new coronavirus, demonstrators in Bordj Bou Arreridj, held a giant banner, a sort of diverted "tifo", along a building, at the end of the weekly marches under construction called "People's Palace".

During the trial on May 21, the prosecutor had asked for five years in prison for "incitement to unarmed assembly" and "exhibition, for the purpose of propaganda, of leaflets, bulletins and butterflies likely to harm the national interest" .

Cherif Ghessoul was considered one of the "forgotten detainees" of "Hirak" because his case was not publicized.

On the other hand, the Bordj Bou Arreridj court placed another "Hirak" figure, Brahim Laalami, under arrest warrant after a direct appearance.

Mr. Laalami is being prosecuted for "contempt of body, contempt of official" and "defamation", according to the National Committee for the Liberation of Prisoners (CNLD). He was imprisoned on November 21, 2019 and then released on April 16.

This young tailor had gone out alone at Bordj Bou Arreridj in February 2019 with a large sign against the candidacy for a 5th term of the then president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Nine days later, the "Hirak" broke out, an unprecedented peaceful popular uprising in Algeria that led to the resignation of Mr. Bouteflika a year ago.

In addition, in Algiers, the appeal trial of journalist Sofiane Merakchi was postponed to June 25, according to his lawyer, Nassima Rezazgui.

Correspondent of the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen chain, Mr. Merakchi was sentenced to eight months in prison for "concealing equipment" and "providing images of demonstrations (...) to Al Jazeera and others foreign media ". He was released on May 26 after serving his sentence.

© 2020 AFP