The authorities continued to detain and prosecute peaceful protesters, journalists, activists and citizens for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and expression relating to the mass protest movement known as Hirak. Legislative changes imposed further restrictions on freedoms of expression...

On 2 April, the tribunal of Sidi M’hamed in Algiers convicted prominent Algerian journalist Ihsane El Kadi to five years in prison, of which two suspended, a fine of 700,000 Algerian dinars (around USD 5,150), and ordered the dissolution of his media company, one of the last independent media...

On 16 February 2023, Algerian father of four and shop owner, Abderrahmane Zitout, started a hunger strike for the third time since his imprisonment, to protest against his prolonged, pre-trial detention which now exceeds 324 days. He languishes in arbitrary detention in El Harrach prison since 5...

Mohamed Benhlima is a former military officer and anti-corruption activist who exposed the corruption of high-ranking Algerian military officials. He fled Algeria to Spain in September 2019 out of fear of being targeted by the authorities for his participation in a peaceful mass anti-government...

Mohamed Benhlima is an activist, former military official and whistleblower who exposed alleged corruption by high-ranking Algerian military officials online. He sought asylum in Spain but the Spanish authorities refouled him to Algeria in March 2022. The Algerian authorities subjected him to...

Mohamed Benhlima is an activist, former military official and whistle-blower who exposed the corruption of high-ranking Algerian military officials online. He sought asylum in Spain but the Spanish authorities refouled him to Algeria in March without due process or evaluation of his asylum claim....

Algerian journalist, Merzoug Touati, sentenced to one year in prison and a fine for Facebook posts denouncing deplorable prison conditions of another detained activist, started a hunger strike on 29 March to protest his detention conditions and demand a transfer to a prison close to his official...

On 17 October, the First-Instance Tribunal of Adrar, a city 1400 km south west of Algiers, the Algerian capital, convicted environmental activist Mohad Gasmi to five years in prison for “glorification of terrorism” for a Facebook publication in which he blamed the Algerian authorities for the...

On 18 April, the Algerian authorities arrested journalist Rabah Kareche shortly after he published an article in Liberté newspaper, covering a protest staged by the Tuareg population of the Tamanrasset area, in southern Algeria, contesting the recent transfer of parts of their province into a newly...

Detained Algerian political activist Abdallah Benaoum’s life is at risk as he is in urgent need of heart surgery. Benaoum, 55, has been detained since 9 December 2019 for Facebook posts in which he criticised the contested 2019 Algerian elections and the repression of the Hirak pro-reform movement....

On 27 April 2020, the trial of the leader of the opposition Algerian political party, Union Démocratique et Sociale (UDS), Karim Tabbou, has been postponed to 1 June 2020 due to regulations related to COVID-19. After an unfair trial characterized by lack of notification for the defense and a...

On 24 March 2020, leader of the opposition Algerian political party, Union Démocratique et Sociale (UDS), Karim Tabbou was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars (around 405 USD) for trumped up charges of “incitement to violence” and “harming national security” in...

On 7 March 2019, Algerian blogger and prisoner of conscience Merzoug Touati was released. On 4 March 2019, an Algerian court issued a new verdict reducing Marzoug Touati’s sentence from seven to two years in prison and three years of suspended prison term. The decision prompted his release as he...