L’ONG précise qu’Abdallah Bennaoum, militant des droits humains âgé de 55 ans, « a besoin de toute urgence d’une opération du cœur ».
Amnesty International called on the Algerian authorities on Sunday (October 11th) to release “immediately” Abdallah Bennaoum, a human rights activist who actively participated in the anti-regime protest movement, the Hirak, considering that his life was “in danger”. The non-governmental organization (NGO) specifies that the 55-year-old activist, in prison since December 9 for posts on Facebook, “is in urgent need of heart surgery”.
His life “is in danger”, according to Amnesty, which calls for “the dropping of all charges” against Mr. Bennaoum and his release “immediately and unconditionally, because he is detained only for having exercised his right to freedom of expression “. Mr. Bennaoum is being prosecuted, among others, for “the offense of possession and dissemination of videos aimed at undermining the morale of the troops, the security of the State, the unity and the integrity of the nation, contempt of body constituted and incitement to gatherings ”, according to the prosecution.
Read also In Algeria, a Hirak activist sentenced to ten years in prison for “inciting atheism”
In a press release issued on October 4, the general prosecutor’s office of Relizane (west) had affirmed that Mr. Bennaoum was “under continuous medical supervision since his transfer to Oran on June 30”, at the request of the doctor and “to perform an echocardiography” . “We tried six times to transfer him to hospital, but he always refused,” according to the prosecution. Postponed several times, Mr. Bennaoum’s trial should take place on October 27 in Relizane.
About 70 imprisoned activists
The authorities have for months been targeting activists, political opponents, journalists and Internet users, increasing arrests, legal proceedings and convictions in order to prevent a resumption of Hirak, suspended by the health crisis. An unprecedented uprising, peaceful and without real leadership, the Hirak was born in February 2019 from an immense fed up of the Algerians, who demand a profound change of the “system” in place since 1962. In vain until now, even if he pushed in April 2019 for the departure of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika after twenty years in power.
According to a count by the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (CNLD), a support association, some 70 Hirak activists are currently imprisoned, most for posts on the social network Facebook.
