ALGEIRS: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Monday pardoned historian Mohammed Amine Belghit, who was jailed for questioning the existence of Algeria’s indigenous Amazigh culture.
Often called Berbers, the Amazigh live in communities across North Africa and predate the Arab conquest of the 7th century.
Tebboune “today signed a presidential decree granting a full pardon for the remainder of the sentence of ... Mohammed Amine Belghit, the presidency said in a statement.
Belghit was initially sentenced in July to five years in prison, but an appeals court reduced it to three years, with two suspended.
His conviction came after he said 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.
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.
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.