ALGIERS: A young Algerian blogger, held since September for posting cartoons on the Internet mocking the president, has been granted bail ahead of his trial, his lawyer said yesterday.
Abdelghani Aloui “was freed on bail on Wednesday by the indictment division of the court of Sidi M’Hamed in Algiers,” Amine Sidhoum said.
The trial date has not yet been fixed.
Aloui, 24, faces several charges, including “attacking the person of the president” and “contempt”, for publishing cartoons on his Facebook page ridiculing Bouteflika and then prime minister Abdelmalek Sellal.
His release comes a week after the 77-year-old leader won a fourth term in office despite his age and chronic health problems.
The security forces had also found a scarf at Aloui’s home in the western city of Tlemcen with the Muslim declaration of faith “There is no God but God” written on it, which led to the charge of “defending terrorism,” described by his lawyer as “excessive.”
AFP
