Rabat – Members of the Algerian diaspora in France held a demonstration in Paris on Sunday as part of the ongoing campaign to demand the end of the repression of detained Hirak (movement) activists in Algeria.
The protest came on the eve of the third anniversary of the Hirak, an anti-establishment political movement that has been calling for political reforms and a generational change in Algerian politics.
During last week’s demonstrations in Paris, protesters chanted several slogans, including: “the revolution is still on the way,” “stop the repression,” and others against the Algerian politico-military establishment.
The collectives of the Algerian diaspora announced on Twitter that they will continue to organize such protests in support of political detainees in Algeria. They also emphasized that some of the activists and government critics who are being detained in Algeria are on their 23rd day of hunger strike.
In addition to the Paris protest, members of the Algerian diaspora held similar demonstrations in Brussels during the sixth AU-EU Summit — and there are reports of plans to hold more protests on Saturday in Barcelona.
The Hirak in Algeria started in February 2019 after former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his decision to run for a fifth term in office.
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The announcement triggered the protests, with many taking to the streets to demand the departure of the old and severely ill Bouteflika who had for decades been the symbol of a paralyzed but self-entitled political leadership.
Many of the calls for democratic reforms remain unanswered, however, as protesters mainly called for a complete or at least substantive break with the old politico-military establishment that has ruled Algeria for the past three decades or so.
More than three years after the forced departure of Bouteflika from power, critics say the Algerian regime has kept the same old habits under President Abdelmajid Tebboune.
From the arrests of dozens of peaceful protesters to the demonization of prominent political dissidents and government critics, observers have maintained, Tebboune’s Algeria is the extension of Bouteflika’s.
