Algeria places pro-democracy activists in pre-trial detention

Eight Algerian activists from pro-democracy protests that toppled the country's last president have been placed in pre-trial detention while six others were released under judicial supervision, one of their lawyers said Friday.

The activists were arrested between July 8 and 15 in Bejaia, some 220 kilometres (136 miles) east of the capital Algiers.

Mira Mokhnache, a university professor and human rights defender, along with seven other activists were placed in pre-trial detention on Thursday by an investigating judge at the Sidi M'Hamed court in downtown Algiers, according to lawyer Fetta Sadat.

The protest movement, known as Hirak, broke out in February 2019 and forced longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down two months later.

The movement continued to press for deep reforms, but it waned during the Covid pandemic.

The National Committee for the Release of Detainees (CNLD) said that among the eight convicted was a man who was released from prison last month after three years of imprisonment over ties to the pro-democracy protests.

A 16-year-old whistleblower who documented Algerian political prisons on his Facebook page was among those released under judicial supervision, according to Sadat.

Local media said the group was being prosecuted under a 2021 law amendment relating to "terrorism".

Last year, a United Nations expert called for the repeal of the article that "broadened the definition of terrorism", and urged Algerian authorities to pardon people convicted or detained over their involvement in the pro-democracy protests.

UN Special Rapporteur Clement Voule called on Algeria to "address the climate of fear caused by a string of criminal charges".

Dozens of people are still detained in Algeria over links to Hirak or human rights activism, according to the National Committee for the Release of Detainees.

In February, rights watchdog Amnesty International said that five years after the protests erupted, Algerian authorities had "escalated their repression of peaceful dissent".

"It is a tragedy that five years after brave Algerians took to the streets in their masses to demand political change and reforms, the authorities have continued to wage a chilling campaign of repression," said Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director, Heba Morayef.

The North African country is readying for presidential elections set to take place on September 7 as the incumbent President Abdelmadjid Tebboune remains its frontrunner.