The Criminal Court of First Instance in the Algerian capital sentenced activist Mohamed Tadjadit, known for his poems against the authorities during the pro-democracy protest movement in 2019, to five years in prison on Tuesday evening on terrorism-related charges, according to his lawyer.

Lawyer Fetta Seddat wrote on her Facebook page: “Tadjadit Mohamed, known as the poet of the Hirak movement, was sentenced to 5 years in prison and a fine of 200,000 dinars (1,300 euros) by the Criminal Court of First Instance in Algiers.”

The lawyer added that the court convicted the person in question on three terrorism-related charges: “the felony of praising terrorism, using information and communication technologies to support the actions and activities of terrorist organizations, and spreading the ideas of terrorist organizations.”

The activist was also convicted of the misdemeanors of “insulting a statutory body, disseminating information that harms the national interest, and calling for an unarmed gathering,” and the prosecution had requested a ten-year prison sentence for him.

Tadjadit had previously been sentenced to five years in prison last January in another case, but the term was reduced to one year on appeal.

On the eve of the trial, Amnesty International published on Monday an appeal signed by 20 human rights organizations demanding that “the Algerian authorities drop all charges and release the poet and activist Mohamed Tadjadit.”

The protests in Algeria began in February 2019 with peaceful demonstrations opposing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s candidacy for a fifth presidential term, then turned into demands for political reforms and greater freedoms.

Bouteflika was forced to resign in April of the same year and died in September 2021.