Algerian activist fined for Photoshopping Bouteflika

An Algerian court has fined a human rights activist accused of undermining President Abdelaziz Bouteflika by posting satirical online pictures of the head of state, her lawyer said Monday.

Zoulikha Belarbi irked authorities after posting a photomontage showing pictures of Bouteflika and senior aides pasted over the stars of popular Turkish TV series "Harim al-Sultan" (the harem of the sultan) on her Facebook page.

Her lawyer Salah Debouz said that a court in Tlemcen, west of Algiers, "sentenced her to pay 100,000 dinars (around $1,000) for undermining the president of the republic" on Sunday.

Debouz, who is also president of the Algerian League of Human Rights, said his client will file an appeal on Tuesday.

The prosecutor decided to put Belarbi on trial on three chief accusations, including defamation, and had initially sought a three-month suspended sentence plus a fine, the lawyer said.

"The police have no right to read the (Facebook) pages of citizens. They need judicial authorization to do so, otherwise it is ... a violation of the constitution which guarantees the right to privacy," he said.

Belarbi had, according to her lawyer, said the photomontage was not "degrading" but her right to free speech.

Algerian authorities had arrested Belarbi in October when she posted the "offending image" on her Facebook page.