Algeria: two figures of the protest arrested before the legislative elections
Karim Tabbou, one of the Hirak figures, acclaimed on his release from Kolea prison, near Tipasa, July 2, 2020. RYAD KRAMDI AFP / File
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Arrests took place Thursday evening, two days before the early legislative elections.
A ballot in which Algerian voters are called to elect the 407 deputies of the future national popular assembly.
It is rejected by the Hirak and by part of the opposition.
One of the challenges will also be the participation rate, which was low during the 2019 presidential election and the referendum on the revision of the Constitution at the end of last year.
Publicity
Read more
With our correspondent in Algiers,
Magali Lagrange
Karim Tabbou was arrested near his home, according to his brother who posted a message on social media in the evening.
The opponent had been under judicial control since the end of April, after an altercation with the president of an official body, the CNDH.
Figure of Hirak, he spent several months in detention, between September 2019 and July 2020.
Another arrest reported Thursday evening, that of journalist Ihsan el-Kadi.
The director of Radio M and the emerging Maghreb news site had also been under judicial supervision for a little over 3 weeks, accused in particular of "
broadcasting false information capable of undermining national unity
", "
disturbances of elections
”and“
reopening of the national tragedy file
”of the 1990s.
Human rights defenders denounce increased repression in the run-up to the elections, resulting in arrests and prosecutions against opponents, hirakists, lawyers and journalists.
The National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees currently lists more than 220 people imprisoned for acts related to Hirak or individual freedoms.
Journalist Khaled Drareni, imprisoned for nearly 11 months and released last February, has been unreachable since Thursday evening.
The organization Reporters Without Borders, for which he is the correspondent, expresses its concern.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Algeria