A symbolic liberation. Algerian justice decided on Thursday July 2 to release the emblematic figure of "Hirak", Karim Tabbou. "The request for provisional release has been accepted. Tabbou will be released on Thursday," said one of the opponent's lawyers, Maître Abdelghani Badi.

He should be released on Thursday afternoon.

Imprisoned since September 26, 2019, Karim Tabbou was sentenced on appeal on March 24 to one year in prison for "undermining the integrity of the national territory".

During this trial, the accused refused to appear without the presence of his lawyers, but the judge refused to accede to his request. Karim Tabbou had been unwell during a hearing, victim of a high blood pressure, according to his lawyers.

The opponent is also being prosecuted for "damaging the morale of the army" in another case, the trial of which has been postponed until September 14.

Seventy prisoners of conscience behind bars

Human rights NGOs welcomed the decision of the Algerian justice. "Algeria, Karim Tabbou finally released. Great relief while waiting for the others," immediately tweeted Said Salhi, the vice-president of the Algerian League for Human Rights.

"Good News: Provisional freedom for #KarimTabbou," added Amnesty International, which had launched an international campaign for his release. And to demand "the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience in Algeria".

"Karim Tabbou released by his captors. He remains all the others. He will then remain to free justice", tempered Abdellah Benadouda, founder of Radio Corona International (RCI), a pro-"Hirak" station based in the United United. 

According to the National Committee for the Liberation of Prisoners, a support association, nearly 70 prisoners of conscience are currently behind bars, most of them for Facebook publications.

Gesture of appeasement before the anniversary of Independence?

Karim Tabbou is one of the most famous faces and voices of "Hirak", the anti-regime protest movement that broke out on February 22, 2019. Leader of a small unregistered opposition party, the Union democratic and social (UDS), his portrait was regularly brandished during weekly demonstrations in Algeria.

"We are happy for Tabbou and his family, it is a decision that is welcome. We await the release of all the detainees, it would be a good gesture of appeasement," said another lawyer, Me Mustapha Bouchachi. 

A first sign? Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune pardoned six detainees on Wednesday evening, including three linked to "Hirak". The presidency mentioned this leniency measure in a statement issued in the run up to the 58th anniversary of Independence, celebrated on Sunday and which is the occasion for calls for national unity. 

Since his election on December 12, 2019, Abdelmadjid Tebboune had decreed several presidential pardons for the benefit of thousands of prisoners, but so far, detainees from "Hirak" have been excluded.

In addition to Karim Tabbou, another known activist, Amira Bouraoui, was also released on Thursday.

With AFP

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