Algiers Court of Appeal sentenced historian Mohamed El-Amin Belghith to three years imprisonment with immediate effect and two years suspended sentence. Earlier, on July 3, 2025, Belghith was sentenced to five years in prison by the Algiers Dar El-Bayda Court and was placed in pre-trial detention since May 3, 2025.
The charges against Belghith include “committing acts aimed at undermining national unity through actions attacking the nation’s symbols and the Republic,” as well as offenses related to “violating the territorial integrity of the country, and spreading hate speech and discrimination via information and communication technologies.”
The legal proceedings started after Belghith’s controversial statements on Sky News Arabia regarding Amazigh identity, which sparked widespread debate and political backlash in Algeria. His remarks questioned the legitimacy of Amazigh identity, labeling it as a “French-Zionist ideological project” and asserting that Berbers are actually Phoenician Arabs, statements seen as hostile to Algerian national identity.
Belghith’s defense team maintains his innocence, attributing part of the controversy to alleged manipulation and selective editing by the media channel, and vows to continue legal efforts to overturn the verdict.
