Since her father’s disappearance in 1994, the Khaldi family’s suffering has never come to an end. Today, the family faces another tragedy following the imprisonment of 42-year-old Asia Khaldi, who supported her brother, human rights defender Yacine Khaldi, in his struggle for truth and justice. On 3 November 2026, the First Instance Criminal Court in Relizane sentenced her to three years in prison and ordered her immediate detention from the courtroom, in a case linked to freedom of expression and solidarity with prisoners of conscience. The ruling comes amid pressure and judicial proceedings targeting the Khaldi family in connection with Yacine’s human rights activities and public positions.
The family’s ordeal dates back to 16 August 1994, when their father, Ammar Khaldi, was arrested, according to the family’s account, at his shop in the Oued Rhiou market in Relizane Province by members of the special forces known as the “Red Berets”, along with 27 other individuals. Since that day, all trace of him has been lost, and his fate remains unknown.
According to her brother Yacine, Asia has suffered from psychological and neurological disorders since their father’s disappearance, requiring continuous medical care. She also experiences recurring episodes that cause her to fall and sustain injuries. Her brother stresses that her health condition requires special medical attention, making her continued detention a serious concern for her safety.
Despite her health condition, Asia remained committed to supporting her brother throughout his years of human rights activism, during which he faced arrests, judicial proceedings and imprisonment. Yacine says that she created a Facebook page during one of his periods of detention to express solidarity with him and communicate with those sympathetic to his cause. She received messages and calls concerning his situation in an effort to defend and support him.
After approximately three and a half years under judicial supervision, Asia appeared before the First Instance Criminal Court in Relizane alongside 11 other individuals, in a case involving the charge of “glorification of terrorist acts” under Article 87 bis of the Algerian Penal Code.
During the hearing on 3 November 2026, Yacine Khaldi testified as a witness, explaining to the court the nature of his sister’s health conditions. According to his account, he showed the court visible injuries on her body resulting from repeated falls, seeking to draw attention to her vulnerable health before the judgment ordering her imprisonment was issued.
Asia Khaldi’s case reveals a retaliatory dimension to prosecutions linked to human rights activism, whereby the consequences of targeting human rights defenders extend to their family members. From a human rights perspective, the imprisonment of Yacine Khaldi’s sister, whose activities were closely linked to supporting him during his periods of detention, represents a form of indirect retaliation and pressure on the family because of his positions and his continued defense of the rights of victims of enforced disappearance, further compounding the family’s suffering.
SHOAA for Human Rights considers the targeting of human rights defenders’ family members for expressing solidarity and providing support a violation of fundamental freedoms. The organization condemns retaliatory practices that extend to the families of human rights activists. It also calls for Asia Khaldi’s release and access to the medical care she needs, respect for the rights of the defense and fair trial guarantees, and an end to the use of judicial proceedings to exert pressure on human rights defenders and their families.
Between a father who disappeared in 1994 and whose fate remains unknown, a son who has spent years searching for the truth, and a daughter now behind bars after standing by her brother, the Khaldi family embodies the suffering of a family that has never stopped demanding justice. With the father still missing and the daughter imprisoned, the family’s ordeal continues, while its right to know the truth and to live in freedom and dignity, free from prosecution and pressure, remains a right that cannot be extinguished by the passage of time.
