Five activists of the Hirak anti-regime movement were imprisoned Thursday (April 8) as part of an investigation into allegations of torture on a minor, said an association supporting detainees of conscience.
The five men were remanded in custody after being heard by an investigating judge from the Sidi M'ahmed court in Algiers, the National Committee for the Release of Detainees (CNLD) said.
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These activists, including the young "poet" of Hirak, Mohamed Tadjadit, were arrested on Sunday and Monday following the posting on social networks of a video of a 15-year-old minor accusing police of
"sexual touching. ”
After his arrest during a protest march Saturday in Algiers.
They are prosecuted for criminal association,
"dissemination of false information likely to disturb public order"
,
"invasion of the privacy of a child and its exploitation for purposes contrary to morality"
,
"incitement to debauchery "
And
" possession of narcotics "
, according to lawyers.
An investigation was opened by the public prosecutor after the broadcast on social networks of this video in which Mohamed Tadjadit appeared in particular alongside the young boy, traumatized and in tears, when he left the police station on Saturday evening.
In a second video posted Sunday on YouTube, the teenager says he was
"mistreated"
by police who allegedly tried to rape him.
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The general prosecutor of Algiers, Sid Ahmed Mourad, had indicated Monday evening, during a press conference, that according to a medical report the minor had not undergone an act
"against nature"
.
"The only fact that the teenager reported is to have been pushed from behind with an antenna of a walkie-talkie"
by a police officer, added the attorney general.
On Tuesday, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune warned Hirak protesters against any
"slippage"
and
"non-innocent activities"
which "
try to hinder the democratic process in Algeria"
, after a meeting of the High Council security (HCS).
Twenty-four Hirak demonstrators were imprisoned Monday for
"undermining national unity"
, after being arrested during a march Saturday in Algiers, according to the CNLD.