The sentence against young activist Walid Kechida was confirmed by lawyer Said Salhi, a member of the Algerian Human Rights League (LADDH). According to him, "This is the heaviest sentence ever handed down against a Hirak activist".

For this lawyer, Walid Kechida is an artist who was tried for expressing his opinion and for his activity and commitment alongside the Hirak. "He is a young artist who expresses himself through drawing, as young Algerians like to do in a humorous way. He did it on his personal account", explains Said Salhi. For him the charges are "somewhat abstract and vague".

The Sétif prosecutor's office had sought five years in prison against this cartoonist accused of "insult to the president" and "precepts of Islam" and "contempt for constituted bodies". Walid Kechida has been in provisional detention for more than eight months.

"The hour is very grave, he was sentenced at a time when we expected his release or even acquittal", declared Kaci Tansaout to AFP, coordinator of the National Committee for the Liberation of Political Detainees (CNLD) in Algeria.

Many opponents and Hirak activists have been arrested, tried and convicted in a climate of repression in Algeria, particularly against the media and bloggers.