Lawyer: Prominent Algerian anti-corruption activist convicted of forgery

Lawyer: Algeria anti-corruption activist convicted

ALGIERS, Algeria — A lawyer says a prominent Algerian anti-corruption activist has been convicted of forgery, after human rights organizations expressed fears the case was designed to silence him.

Djilali Hadjadj’s lawyer says he has been handed a six-month suspended sentence and a 50,000 dinar ($664) fine.

Hadjadj was accused of using his job as a doctor at the national health insurance organization to sign phony medical certificates for his wife. Lawyer Miloud Brahimi says Hadjadj’s wife was handed a 2-month suspended sentence and a 20,000 dinar ($266) fine Monday. The couple will appeal.

Reporters Without Borders has said it worried the case was “a pretext to silence a man who has ceaselessly denounced corruption in Algeria.”