An Algiers court prosecutor has called for life in prison against Walid Nekkiche, who has been in jail for over a year. He is suspected of “conspiracy against the state“.
He had participated in a protest march and now faces life imprisonment. The prosecutor of a court in Algiers on Monday requested life imprisonment against a student, Walid Nekkiche, in detention for more than a year and accused in particular of “conspiracy against the state“, said the National Liberation Committee prisoners (CNLD).
READ ALSO> A year of protest in Algeria: between victories and challenges, the contrasting record of the “Hirak”
Walid Nekkiche was arrested on November 26, 2019 in Algiers during a weekly march by students of Hirak, the popular protest movement born in February 2019. Originally from Tizi Ouzou, in Kabylia, he is a student at the Higher National Institute of Algiers fishing and aquaculture, according to local media. His trial began on Monday before the criminal court of the Dar el Beida tribunal in Algiers.
“Empty file”
During the hearing, the young man claimed to have been “tortured” by internal security agents while in custody, report the CNLD and local media.
Walid Nekkiche is being prosecuted in the company of a co-accused, Kamel Bensaad, aged 43 and also from Tizi Ouzou, who was arrested on November 26, 2020 and against whom life imprisonment was also requested. The two men are accused in particular of “conspiracy against the State”, “attacking the integrity of the national territory” and “incitement to take up arms“.
Walid Nekkiche is also accused of belonging to the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylia (MAK), an illegal separatist organization, according to Algerian media. Its defense collective, made up of more than ten lawyers, denounces “the use of an arsenal of repressive articles” on the basis of an “empty file“.
“The indictment is disproportionate”
The vice-president of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH), Saïd Salhi, described the very heavy sentence required as “shocking” on Facebook and Twitter. “The indictment is disproportionate against a young peaceful student, who has only expressed his opinions on social networks“, adds Saïd Salhi, denouncing the use of torture.
Procès #Nekkiche_walid totalement à charge avec un dossier, instruit sur la base des PV d'auditions des services de sécurité arrachés sous la contrainte et la torture doit être annulé, les charges abandonnées #StandUp4HumanRights #staywithdefenders @MaryLawlorhrds @RSDDHCADHP pic.twitter.com/rxLtXOJxXd
— said SALHI (@saidsalhi527) February 1, 2021
According to the CNLD, some 80 people are currently imprisoned in Algeria in connection with the protests of the “Hirak” and / or individual freedoms. Prosecutions based in at least 90% of cases on publications critical of the authorities on social networks.
