Eight people associated with the popular protest movement of Hirak in Algeria were arrested for "
criminal association
", funded by a foreign chancellery in Algiers, local security services said on Tuesday.
Read also: The Islamist shadow hangs over the Algerian Hirak
"
The security services have arrested a criminal association made up of eight people aged 26 to 60 years active under the guise of a cultural association, not approved, in Bab El Oued
", popular district of Algiers, said a statement from the Directorate. General of National Security (DGSN). According to the DGSN, this association has acquired modern technological equipment thanks to "
the financing of a diplomatic representation in Algiers of a large foreign country
". The country in question is not identified.
According to the press release, this funding enabled this association "
to produce provocative films and documents
" and "
leaflets calling for violence
" during the weekly Hirak demonstrations. Officials of the association "
recognized this funding under the guise of cultural activities,
" said the press release.
The NGO is not named but activists from the SOS Bab El Oued association, including its president Nacer Maghnine, were presented on Tuesday to the prosecutor of the Bab El Oued court, according to the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees ( CNLD), a solidarity collective, without a relationship between the two cases being established. They had been arrested during the weekly Hirak march on Friday in Algiers. During the operation of the security services in Bab El Oued, supervised by the prosecutors of the courts of Sidi M'ahmed and Bab El Oued, “
677 banners, seven computers, an ultra-modern digital camera, 3 scanners and 12 printers were seized
”.
At the beginning of April, the Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, warned the Hirak demonstrators against any “
slippage
” and “
non-innocent activities
” which “
try to hinder the democratic process in Algeria
”. Born in February 2019 from the massive rejection of a fifth term of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the Hirak calls for a radical change in
the
political
"
system
" in place since independence in 1962. He is today accused by the authorities of being infiltrated by Islamist activists, heirs of the Islamic Salvation Front (dissolved in March 1992), who would seek to drag the Hirak into a violent confrontation.
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