Algeria’s opposition leader has been arrested

ALGIERS: According to human rights organisations, Karim Tabbou, one of Algeria’s most prominent opposition members, has been imprisoned again.

Tabbou was one of the most well-known faces during the extraordinary large protests organised by the pro-democracy Hirak movement, which began in February 2019.

They wanted a complete revision of the ruling structure that had been in place since the country’s independence from France in 1962.

According to the rights groups, he was seized at his house on Friday evening.

We still don’t know the reasons for this new arrest. Algeria’s Human Rights League (LADDH) wrote on Facebook.

On Tuesday, Tabbou paid “hommage” to another activist, Hakim Debbazi, whose death was reported by the Rights League. Debbazi was arrested in February.

Tabbou wrote, “Physically dead, the martyrs of the just causes are more than alive.”

He blamed officials for Debbazi’s death, which he described as “modest and humble,” and claimed the activist had been “committed body and sole to the Hirak.”

Tabbou urged people to remember Debbazi’s “sacrifice” and to “continue our fight for the advent of a state of law.”

Tabbou is the leader of the Democratic Social Union, a minor unregistered opposition party (UDS).

He was sentenced to a year in prison in March 2020 for “undermining national security.”

His conviction was based on his criticism of the army’s political role.

He was held and freed several times before, including soon before the legislative election in June, which Hirak boycotted.

Protests in Hirak led long-serving President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign. Demonstrations demanding major reforms persisted, but the momentum weakened as the coronavirus epidemic occurred.

According to the National Committee for the Release of Detainees, more than 300 people are incarcerated in Algeria due to ties to the Hirak or rights activity.

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