An Algerian court sentenced on Monday former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia to seven years in jail over corruption charges.
Ouyahia served as premier during the term of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
The court also sentenced former ministers of Public Works, Amar Ghoul and Abdelghani Zaalane to three years in prison in the same case.
Separately, a supporter of Algeria's Hirak protest movement was sentenced to three years in jail Monday for satirical social media posts mocking the government, sparking condemnation from rights groups.
Walid Kechida, 25, was accused of insulting President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and "offending the precepts" of Islam in internet memes and other online posts, said Kaci Tansaout, from the CNLD prisoners' rights group.
"Walid Kechida is sadly sentenced to three years in prison with a fine," Tansaout said, adding that lawyers would appeal.
"We had expected his release" from jail, he added, according to AFP.
Lawyer Moumen Chadi confirmed the sentence.
Human Rights Watch and the Algerian League for Human Rights (LADDH) deplored the sentence.
"Algeria's government continues its vengeance against #Hirak activists," said Ahmed Benchemsi, HRW's advocacy and communications director for the Middle East and North Africa.
The public prosecutor in Algeria's northeastern Setif province had called for a five-year sentence, and Kechida has already spent eight months in detention awaiting trial.
Algerian authorities have arrested and prosecuted several activists in a bid to neutralize the Hirak protest movement.
Kechida, who administered the "Hirak Memes" Facebook page, is the latest Algerian targeted by authorities this year in a crackdown against freedom of expression.
Tebboune last week signed Algeria's new constitution into law, a change the government hopes will turn the page on the long-running protest movement.
The movement first launched vast street demonstrations in early 2019 to oppose then-president Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term in office.
Bouteflika resigned in April that year, but protesters kept up the pressure, demanding a full overhaul of the ruling system in place since the North African nation's 1962 independence from France.
However, social distancing necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic meant that protesters had to halt their street rallies early last year.
A November referendum to approve the constitutional changes received the backing of less than 15 percent of the electorate, in a vote overshadowed by the pandemic and Hirak calls for a boycott.
