ALGIERS: An Algiers appeals court on Tuesday reduced historian Mohamed Amine Belghit’s prison sentence from five years to three, with two years suspended, following his conviction over comments dismissing the existence of Amazigh culture.
The Amazigh, often called Berbers, are North Africa’s indigenous people, predating the Arab conquests of the 7th century, with communities across Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and beyond.
Belghit was originally sentenced in July after saying in a televised interview that “the Amazigh language is an ideological project of Franco-Zionist origin,” and that “there’s no such thing as Amazigh culture.”
He was arrested in May and charged with undermining national unity and spreading hate speech, as well as insulting national symbols, prosecutors said at the time.
On Tuesday, his lawyer Toufik Hichour said on Facebook that the appeals court had reduced the sentence “to three years in prison and two years suspended.”
Belghit, a university professor, is no stranger to controversy.
His remarks have repeatedly sparked outrage, with critics accusing him of historical revisionism and hostility toward the Amazigh community.
Algeria granted official status to Tamazight, the language of the Amazigh, in 2016.
The following year, the Amazigh new year celebration, Yennayer, was added to the list of national holidays.
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Algeria cuts jail time for historian who questioned Amazigh culture
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Algeria cuts jail time for historian who questioned Amazigh culture
- He was arrested in May and charged with undermining national unity and spreading hate speech
- His lawyer said the appeals court had reduced the sentence “to three years in prison and two years suspended“
Forensic report says Istanbul tourists deaths likely due to chemical poisoning
ISTANBUL: A forensic report into the deaths of four members of a Turkish-German family on holiday in Istanbul revealed they were likely exposed to chemicals, local media reported on Wednesday.
The family, who traveled from Germany to Turkiye’s largest city for a vacation, fell ill last week after eating several popular street food dishes in the waterside neighborhood of Ortakoy, at the foot of a bridge spanning the Bosphorus.
Turkish prosecutors launched an investigation, initially focusing on suspected food poisoning.
Eleven people have been detained in connection with the incident.
But a forensic report based on samples taken from the mother and the two children showed that their death due to food poisoning was a “lower possibility,” the daily Cumhuriyet said, citing the report.
“Primarily, it is believed that they died as a result of chemical poisoning caused by the circumstances in the hotel where they were staying,” the forensic report said.
Turkish media had earlier reported that a substance was sprayed in a room on the ground floor of the hotel to combat a bed bug infestation, which may have reached the family’s room on the first floor through a bathroom vent.
The hotel in the Fatih neighborhood near Istanbul’s historic peninsula was evacuated on Saturday after two more guests were taken to hospital with similar symptoms. It was sealed off on Sunday.
The two children died on Thursday and their mother died a day later. The father was treated in intensive care until Monday when he too died.
The report said a definitive conclusion would be reached after further analysis was completed.
“The pathological, microbiological, and toxicological analysis of samples taken from mother and children will provide definitive conclusions regarding the causes of death,” it said.
The two children held German citizenship, an embassy spokesman in Ankara told AFP.
The forensic report also said samples of chemical substances used in the hotel would be examined by the chemistry department at the Forensic Medicine Institute.
The family, who traveled from Germany to Turkiye’s largest city for a vacation, fell ill last week after eating several popular street food dishes in the waterside neighborhood of Ortakoy, at the foot of a bridge spanning the Bosphorus.
Turkish prosecutors launched an investigation, initially focusing on suspected food poisoning.
Eleven people have been detained in connection with the incident.
But a forensic report based on samples taken from the mother and the two children showed that their death due to food poisoning was a “lower possibility,” the daily Cumhuriyet said, citing the report.
“Primarily, it is believed that they died as a result of chemical poisoning caused by the circumstances in the hotel where they were staying,” the forensic report said.
Turkish media had earlier reported that a substance was sprayed in a room on the ground floor of the hotel to combat a bed bug infestation, which may have reached the family’s room on the first floor through a bathroom vent.
The hotel in the Fatih neighborhood near Istanbul’s historic peninsula was evacuated on Saturday after two more guests were taken to hospital with similar symptoms. It was sealed off on Sunday.
The two children died on Thursday and their mother died a day later. The father was treated in intensive care until Monday when he too died.
The report said a definitive conclusion would be reached after further analysis was completed.
“The pathological, microbiological, and toxicological analysis of samples taken from mother and children will provide definitive conclusions regarding the causes of death,” it said.
The two children held German citizenship, an embassy spokesman in Ankara told AFP.
The forensic report also said samples of chemical substances used in the hotel would be examined by the chemistry department at the Forensic Medicine Institute.
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