By RFIPosted on 09-10-2019Modified on 09-10-2019 at 02:38

In Algeria, the security forces tried to prevent the demonstration of students that was held yesterday, as every Tuesday since February. Dozens of people were arrested in Algiers, including students and journalists.

If most of them have been released, at least one student will be transferred to court on Wednesday 9 October. For several weeks, arrests and remand in custody of activists or protesters are regular in the capital.

They were arrested by plainclothes policemen while sitting in cafes. In less than a week, seven activists from the association Rassemblement Action Jeunesse (RAJ), a very active association in the protest movement, were arrested, presented to a judge and placed in pre-trial detention. Justice accuses them of inciting crowds and undermining the security of the state.

RAJ's founder, Hakim Addad, was arrested last Friday after the protests, along with three other activists. In front of the judges this Sunday, he was remanded for "inciting assembly" and "undermining the unity of the territory". This is not the first time activists of the association are arrested: three others have been in prison since September. And for the president of the RAJ, Abdelouahab Fersaoui, the lawsuits aim to silence the movement.

The headquarters of the RAJ is monitored by the security services, our summer school was banned, our forum debates was repeatedly prevented. And through this fierceness against the association RAJ, they aim to weaken any dynamic and discordant voice that does not fit into the logic of power. It is not these arrests that will weaken the movement. Algerians have decided to take their destiny into their own hands.

Abdelouahab Fersaoui

09-10-2019 - By Leïla Beratto

There was a large wave of arrests and remand in June related to the Berber flag . But since mid-September, at least 40 people have been arrested. This is pushing civil society organizations and some political parties to talk about " escalation ".

The lawyers who defend the defendants themselves are even more critical. In a press conference on Monday, October 7, they said that justice was used, that the arrests were made outside the framework of the law. They also denounce the difference in treatment on the territory, since the vast majority of arrests took place in the capital.

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