Algeria convicts six for belonging to Kabylie separatist movement

An Algerian court on Friday convicted six people of belonging to the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie (MAK), a secessionist movement classified as a terrorist group by Algiers. 

They include Kamira Nait Sid, the co-president of the Amazigh Congress and a university professor who was first arrested by Algerian authorities in August 2021. 

Also convicted was Slimane Bouhafs, a former police officer and activist who lived as a refugee in neighbouring Tunisia, who mysteriously returned to face trial in Algeria on Friday.

Tunisian rights groups said the UN had given Bouhafs refugee status in September 2020 - but he disappeared from his home in Tunis in August 2021 in "mysterious circumstances", according to Amnesty International and some 40 other rights groups.

Citing Algerian media, the groups said Tunisian authorities had handed the 54-year-old over to Algeria to face trial, several days after his "forced disappearance".

Some of the sentences were handed out to individuals accused of having a close relationship with MAK leader Ferhat Mehenni, such as his nephew Jugurtha Ben Ajaoud and Aziz Ait Chebib. 

The court also issued an international arrest warrant against Mehenni and his assistant Belabbes Axel, both of whom are in France. 

Mehenni’s exile in France has been a bone of contention between Algiers and Paris, as French authorities have refused to extradite him to Algeria. 

MAK is a Kabyle nationalist movement seeking self-autonomy and independence of the Kabylia region along the northeast coast of Algeria, which includes the Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia provinces.

AFP contributed to this report.