Three Moroccan shepherds sentenced to three years in prison in Algeria

Three Moroccan shepherds have been sentenced to two years in prison by an Algerian court of the Wilaya of Bechar (southwest), according to two Moroccan newspapers.

"Al Alam" and "Assabah" reported Thursday that Algerian authorities also seized 1,650 sheep pertaining to the three shepherds.

The herders were arrested on April 24 as they were pasturing their flocks, wrote Al Alam, adding that they live in the Moroccan-Algerian frontier region of Figuig (east of Morocco).

During the hearings, the shepherds denied that the region where they were arrested was part of the Algerian territory, and insisted they have been used to pasture their livestock in the area for many years now. However, the court dismissed their declarations.