On 24 March 2020, leader of the opposition Algerian political party, Union Démocratique et Sociale (UDS), Karim Tabbou was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars (around 405 USD) for trumped up charges of “incitement to violence” and “harming national security” in relation to a speech he gave, in a video published on the political party’s Facebook page, where he peacefully criticized the role of the army in politics. Tabbou has been held in prolonged solitary confinement since his arrest in September 2019.
