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.
Algeria cuts jail time for historian who questioned Amazigh culture
https://arab.news/w5dtd
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“
Hamas says will give up arms to a Palestinian authority ‘if occupation ends’
- “We accept the deployment of UN forces as a separation force, tasked with monitoring the borders and ensuring compliance with the ceasefire in Gaza,” Hayya says
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas said Saturday it was ready to hand over its weapons in the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian authority governing the territory on the condition that the Israeli army’s occupation ends.
“Our weapons are linked to the existence of the occupation and the aggression,” Hamas chief negotiator and its Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said in a statement, adding: “If the occupation ends, these weapons will be placed under the authority of the state.” Asked by AFP, Hayya’s bureau said he was referring to a sovereign and independent Palestnian state.
“We accept the deployment of UN forces as a separation force, tasked with monitoring the borders and ensuring compliance with the ceasefire in Gaza,” Hayya added, signalling his group’s rejection of the deployment of an international force in the Strip whose mission would be to disarm it.
