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Rabat – The Algerian government is making international headlines with its violent security approach against the Hirak movement protesters.
Police have been responding to peaceful protests with dozens of arrests, an approach that Algerians have condemned throughout their movement against the military regime and corruption, as well as the lack of reforms.
Algerie Part Plus said on April 9 that authorities have arrested not less than 36 Hirak activists in different governorates across the country.
“It is the most repressive since the start of Hirak on February 22, 2019,” the Algerian news outlet said.
The report also cited the arrest of minors, accusing Algerian police of “mistreating” them in a police station in Algiers on Saturday, April 3.
Five of the arrested demonstrators are minors and are facing charges of “spreading false information,” “gathering aiming to undermine national security,” and “possession of drugs.”
Algerie Part Plus quote sources that said the five activists appeared before the court in the absence of their defence before being presented to the investigating judge.
The Algerian media is not the first to report on Algerian police’s human rights violations.
Read also: Algeria: Hirak Protesters Call For Ramadan Amnesty For Activists
Several reports condemned Algeria’s security approach in tackling the crowds after demonstrations restarted a few months ago against the survival of theBouteflika-era old guard and the lack of democratic progress.
In a report published earlier today, Jeune Afrique said that about 23 Hirak activists under detention have started a hunger strike to condemn their arrest.
The activists have been on hunger strike since Wednesday, the report noted.
With Ramadan around the corner, protesters have called for amnesty for all activists who have been detained ahead of the holy month.
“Free them so that they spend Ramadan with their families,” a group of women chanted at the heart of the Algiers demonstrations, according to Algerian newspaper Liberte Algerie.
Protesters also chanted anti-regime slogans during their 112th protest on Friday, when Hirak activists flooded the streets.
Amid intense demands and criticism and reports from NGOs against the violent security approach, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune described some activists as terrorists.
Tebboune claimed that elements within the Hirak constitute “separatist circles and illegal movements close to terrorism.”
He claimed that activists manipulate the “weekly demonstrations.”
