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NOPE
Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Algiers court jails a baccalaureate candidate and his sister for four years; prosecutor says she answered his exam questions with ChatGPT

The prosecutor at the Cheraga court in Algiers said that on 7 June 2026 an exam supervisor caught a free baccalaureate candidate photographing the exam questions and sending them by WhatsApp to his sister, who obtained answers from ChatGPT and sent them back for him to use. The court convicted both of leaking exam questions and answers by remote communication, sentenced each to four years' imprisonment and a 200,000-dinar fine, and had them detained at the hearing. Both appealed, and at the Algiers appeal hearing, which Ennahar said was scheduled for 21 July 2026, the prosecutor-general asked for heavier sentences (Ennahar, 22 July); no appeal ruling was found by 1 November 2026.

AI system
ChatGPT
Occurred
7 Jun 2026
Reported
9 June 2026
Event location
Algeria
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
Legal HarmLoss of Liberty
Whose AI use
Their own AI use
Setting
Education · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts
4 claims: 4 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
2 people

AI system as recorded: ChatGPT, used by the candidate's sister to obtain answers to baccalaureate exam questions, according to the prosecutor's statement

What Happened

The prosecutor's account. In a statement relayed by the Algeria Press Service, Le Courrier d'Algérie and Ennahar, the prosecutor at the Cheraga court said that on 7 June 2026 a supervisor at a baccalaureate exam centre caught a free (external) candidate photographing the questions with his phone and sending them by WhatsApp to his sister. According to the statement, she put the questions to the AI application ChatGPT and sent the answers back to him by WhatsApp for use during the exam.

Judgment. Brought before the court under the immediate-appearance procedure, both were convicted of leaking final secondary-school exam questions and answers by remote communication under articles 253 bis 6 and 7 of the Penal Code. Each received four years' imprisonment and a 200,000-dinar fine; the court ordered them detained at the hearing and confiscated the seized equipment.

Appeal. Both appealed. Ennahar reported on 21 July 2026 that the hearing before the tenth criminal chamber of the Algiers court was scheduled for that day, and on 22 July that the prosecutor-general had asked for the sentences to be increased. No appeal ruling was found.

Limits. The ChatGPT detail comes from the prosecutor's statement; the judgment was not read, and the sources do not quote any ChatGPT answer or say whether the answers were correct.

Reported harm

According to the prosecutor's statement, the candidate and his sister were convicted, sentenced to four years' imprisonment and fined after she answered his exam questions with ChatGPT; they were detained at the hearing and their appeal was pending.

Outcome

Ongoing

Convicted by the Cheraga court (Algiers) on 9 June 2026: four years' imprisonment and a 200,000-dinar fine each, detained at the hearing. Both appealed; at the Algiers court appeal hearing (scheduled for 21 July 2026, per Ennahar) the prosecutor-general sought heavier sentences, Ennahar reported on 22 July. No appeal ruling found on 1 November 2026.

What remains unknown

  • What ChatGPT answered and whether the answers were correct
  • Where the sister was when she used ChatGPT
  • The siblings' ages
  • The outcome of the appeal heard in July 2026
  • Whether the candidate's exam results were annulled or other exam sanctions applied

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. According to the Cheraga prosecutor's statement, the sister put the photographed exam questions to ChatGPT, obtained answers from it and sent them to the candidate during the exam (s1, s2, s3); the conviction for leaking exam answers by remote communication followed. The sources quote no ChatGPT answer.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported According to the Cheraga prosecutor's statement, on 7 June 2026 an exam supervisor caught a free (external) baccalaureate candidate photographing the exam questions with his phone and sending them by WhatsApp to his sister.

Causal attribution. One origin: the Cheraga prosecutor's press statement, relayed by two outlets.

  • lecourrier-dalgerie.com(opens in new tab) supports · French
    les faits remontent au 7 juin 2026; Le candidat utilisait son téléphone portable pour photographier les sujets d’examen avant de les transmettre à sa sœur
  • ennaharonline.com(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
    تم بتاريخ 2026/06/07 إخطار مصالح الفرقة الإقليمية للدرك الوطني; وهو يقوم بتصوير الأسئلة باستعمال هاتفه النقال ثم يرسلها إلى شقيقته المتهمة
Reported The prosecutor's statement says the sister obtained answers to the questions from the AI application ChatGPT and sent them back to him by WhatsApp for use during the exam.

Causal attribution. The ChatGPT use is the prosecutor's account (investigating and prosecuting authority); all three outlets repeat that statement.

  • lecourrier-dalgerie.com(opens in new tab) supports · French
    la sœur du candidat recevait les sujets et utilisait l’application d’intelligence artificielle ChatGPT pour obtenir des réponses aux questions posées. Ces réponses étaient ensuite envoyées au candidat par le biais de WhatsApp afin qu’il les exploite durant l’épreuve.
  • ennaharonline.com(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
    هذه الأخيرة تتولى الإجابة عليها بالاستعانة بتطبيق الذكاء الاصطناعي “تشات جي بي تي”. ثم تعيد إرسالها إليه عبر تطبيق واتساب
  • ennaharonline.com(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
    تتولى الإجابة عليها بالاستعانة بتطبيق الذكاء الاصطناعي “تشات جي بي تي” ثم تعيد إرسالها إليه عبر تطبيق واتساب
Reported The Cheraga court convicted both of leaking exam questions and answers by remote communication (Penal Code articles 253 bis 6 and 7), sentenced each to four years' imprisonment and a 200,000-dinar fine, and ordered them detained at the hearing.

Causal attribution. The conviction and sentence come from the prosecutor's statement relayed by three outlets; the judgment itself was not read.

  • lecourrier-dalgerie.com(opens in new tab) supports · French
    Chacun a été condamné à une peine de quatre ans d’emprisonnement ferme assortie d’une amende de 200 000 dinars. La juridiction a également ordonné leur placement immédiat en détention à l’audience
  • ennaharonline.com(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
    حيث تم إدانة كل متهم بأربع سنوات حبسا نافذا وغرامة مالية قدرها 200.000 دج; طبقا لنص المادة 253 مكرر 6 ومكرر 7 من قانون العقوبات
  • aps.dz(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
    تم إدانة شخصين بأربع سنوات حبسا نافذا وغرامة مالية قدرها 200.000 دج, إثر وقائع غش في امتحان شهادة البكالوريا, حسب ما أفاد به اليوم الثلاثاء بيان لنيابة الجمهورية لدى محكمة الشراقة
Reported Both appealed; at the appeal hearing before the Algiers court, which Ennahar said was scheduled for 21 July 2026, the prosecutor-general asked for the sentences to be increased.

Causal attribution. Court reporting by one outlet (two articles by the same reporter); no appeal ruling was found.

  • ennaharonline.com(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
    بعد استئناف المتهمين الحكم الصادر عن محكمة الشراقة في 9 جوان المنقضي; من المرتقب أن يمثل أمام الغرفة الجزائية العاشرة لدى مجلس قضاء الجزائر اليوم الثلاثاء
  • ennaharonline.com(opens in new tab) supports · Arabic
    إلتمس النائب العام بالغرفة الجزائية العاشرة لدى مجلس قضاء الجزائر تشديد العقوبة لمتّهمين إثنين موقوفين

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 2 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in French on 2026-11-01 (HTTP 200, dated 11 June 2026); translated by the research agent (an AI). Reports the Cheraga prosecutor's communique and the judgment. Applies to s1.

Read in Arabic on 2026-11-01 (HTTP 200, bylined, dated 21 July 2026); translated by the research agent (an AI). Quotes the prosecutor's press statement and reports the scheduled appeal hearing. Applies to s2.

Read in Arabic on 2026-11-01 (HTTP 200, bylined, dated 22 July 2026); translated by the research agent (an AI). Reports the appeal hearing; its account of the facts repeats the prosecutor's statement. Applies to s3.

Read in Arabic on 2026-11-01 (HTTP 200, Algeria Press Service, dated 9 June 2026); translated by the research agent (an AI). Short dispatch of the prosecutor's statement on the conviction; it does not mention ChatGPT. Applies to s4.

Event countries: Algeria. Affected-person countries: Unknown. Court countries: Algeria.

Event: the exam centre was in Algiers province and the gendarmerie, prosecutor and court were in Algiers (s1, s2, s4). The sources do not say where the sister was when she used ChatGPT or where the two live. Court: the Cheraga court and the Algiers appeal court (s1, s3).

Reviewed for publication 2026-11-01: Published as a reported prosecution: the Cheraga prosecutor states that a baccalaureate candidate's sister answered his exam questions with ChatGPT and relayed them to him, and both were convicted and jailed for four years; the ChatGPT use rests on the prosecutor's statement and the judgment was not read.

People described

A free baccalaureate candidate and his sister in Algiers, convicted and jailed for four years each after, according to the prosecutor, she answered his exam questions with ChatGPT; their ages are not stated.

People reported harmed in this case

2 people

1 AI participant · 1 other person harmed

Two people were convicted: the sister, who used ChatGPT (participant user), and the candidate, who received the answers (other person harmed).

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#chatgpt#exam-cheating#baccalaureate#criminal-conviction#prison-sentence#algeria

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Algiers court jails a baccalaureate candidate and his sister for four years; prosecutor says she answered his exam questions with ChatGPT. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-algiers-court-jails-baccalaureate-candidate-and-sister-after-prosecutor-says-she-answered-exam-questions-with-chatgpt

BibTeX

@misc{2026_algiers_court_jails_baccalaureate_candidate_and_sister_after_prosecutor_says_she_answered_exam_questions_with_chatgpt,
  title = {Algiers court jails a baccalaureate candidate and his sister for four years; prosecutor says she answered his exam questions with ChatGPT},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-algiers-court-jails-baccalaureate-candidate-and-sister-after-prosecutor-says-she-answered-exam-questions-with-chatgpt}
}

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