President Tebboune pardoned 59 other activists last February
Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune granted presidential pardon on Sunday to 18 activists of the popular movement (Hirak) currently in prison.
This is what emerges from a press release from the Algerian Ministry of Justice, of which the Anadolu Agency consulted a copy.
“The Ministry of Justice announces that on the occasion of the 59th anniversary of Independence, the President of the Republic, Abdelmajid Tebboune, has decided on clemency measures in favor of young people prosecuted and arrested for having participated in the Hirak demonstrations and for the actions that resulted from it, โthe statement said.
And to add: “In this context, the judicial authorities began, as of today (Sunday), the procedures for the release of these 18 people, and the process continues.”
President Tebboune pardoned 59 activists last February, on the occasion of the second anniversary of Hirak, namely the 22 of the same month, as part of the appeasement measures that followed his meeting with the leaders of the political parties.
According to the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (non-governmental), 304 Hirak activists were arrested and imprisoned until the beginning of July, in 36 of the country’s 58 wilayas (provinces).
Human rights organizations and opposition parties in Algeria have been asking the country’s president for months to release those arrested during the Hirak protests or because of their social media posts.
Tebboune’s decision coincided with the celebration of the Algerian National Day (Independence Day), corresponding to July 5 of each year.