Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has committed to soon release two of the main figures in the protest movement ("Hirak"), Karim Tabbou and Samir Benlarbi, Sofiane Djilali, leader of an opposition party received on Tuesday, announced on Tuesday May by the Head of State. "It is a solemn commitment on his part," added Jil Jadid, stressing that Abdelmadjid Tebboune had clarified that he "did not interfere directly with regard to justice. "
This popular movement calls for a change in the "system" in place since the country's independence in 1962. So far in vain, even if it obtained the departure of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April 2019 after 20 years of reign.
Karim Tabbou, who turns 47 on Tuesday, is one of the familiar, if not the best known, faces of Hirak, the anti-regime movement that was suspended in mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Samir Benlarbi, 45, a media personality, is also a longtime opponent of the regime.
Obstacles to their release
Obstacles remain, however, particularly in legal terms, to the release of the two men, detained in Kolea prison, near Algiers. They may therefore not be eligible for a presidential favor. Regarding Karim Tabbou, "the legal solution is to submit a request for provisional release to the Chamber of the Court of Cassation and the judge can decide to release Karim Tabbou," said one of his lawyers, Me Mustapha Bouchachi. .
In Algerian law, the Head of State has the right to pardon, which only concerns prisoners who have been definitively sentenced, which is not the case for Samir Benlarbi, in preventive detention since March 7.
However, there has been a precedent. “After the riots of October 1988 (against the FLN, the only party then in power, Editor's note), hundreds of detainees were released by the president at the time. Their files were sent back sine die. I was a magistrate at the time. So yes, he (Mr. Tebboune) can release them, ”explains Boudina.
Sixty detainees linked to this challenge
In a press release, Jil Jadid - a small party that campaigned against Abdelaziz Bouteflika's candidacies for a presidential mandate in 2014 and 2019-, welcomed President Tebboune's intention, "to promote appeasement and national dialogue. According to the National Committee for the Release of Detainees (CNLD), a support association, around sixty people are currently detained for acts related to Hirak.
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Several Algerian and international NGOs demand the release "immediately and unconditionally", as well as that of "all prisoners and prisoners of conscience incarcerated" in Algeria.