An Algerian journalist, Ihsane El-Kadi, has been sentenced to five years in prison over accusations of breaching national security.

According to a report published on Monday by Voice of America (VOA), the court in Algiers, the state capital, jailed Mr El-Kadi on Sunday and ordered a two-year suspension for his website and a radio station.

Mr El-Kadi appears to be the most recent victim of an expanding crackdown on dissenting voices in the North African nation. Algeria is ranked 146th (out of 180) in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) press freedom index for 2021.

The  Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in February reported how the Algerian police arrested a journalist, Mustapha Bendjama at his home after raiding it and confiscating his phone and work computer.

Mr El-Kadi is rumoured to be active in Algeria’s Hirak pro-democracy protest movement in 2019.

He was said to have been detained on December 23 at his home in Algiers and subsequently accused of receiving foreign funding for his outlets. 

Mr El-Kadi was also accused of using his outlet as a tool for opposition politicians to point out contradictions or shortfalls in the government’s policies.

However, three months after his detention, he appeared before the court on Sunday where he was also ordered to pay a fine of about 700,000 Algerian dinars ($5,200). 

The court also ordered that his platforms be dissolved and their assets seized while a fine of one million Algerian dinars ($7,390) was imposed on its owners.