On February 25, 2024, security forces at Houari Boumediene Airport in Algeria arrested activist Djamila Bentouis (60 years old), a married mother of three living in France and holding both Algerian and French citizenship, as she was arriving from Paris to attend her mother’s funeral. She was detained by security services, subjected to an extensive interrogation, and had her travel documents confiscated before being released later that same day, with an obligation to appear at the judicial police office in Dar El Beïda on February 28, 2024.
As requested, Djamila Bentouis appeared before the judicial police in Dar El Beïda and underwent another interrogation regarding her multiple participations in activities supporting the popular Hirak movement, her views on supporting peaceful and democratic change in Algeria, and a song she had written and performed, which denounces the arrests and suppression faced by Hirak activists by security forces for their demands for democracy and the civilization of the state. She then received another summons to appear again on March 3, 2024.
After attending on the morning of March 3, she was presented to the public prosecutor at the Dar El Beïda Court, where she was informed of the charges against her under Article 87 bis, the felony of joining a terrorist group operating both within and outside the country, undermining the integrity and safety of the nation, and inciting unarmed gathering, all based on the lyrics of the song she wrote and sang. She was then referred to the investigating judge, who ordered her pretrial detention in Koléa Prison in Tipaza Province. On March 4, there was an appeal against the detention order, but the indictment chamber upheld the detention order on March 13.
SHOAA organization expresses its strong disapproval of the arrest of activist Djamila Bentouis and the seemingly malicious charges brought against her by the authorities on the basis of her exercising her right to expression.
SHOAA strongly condemns the ongoing violations of freedom of expression and the suppression of critical voices over the years, emphasizing the importance of respecting human rights principles, especially the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom of art, thought, and creativity, which is guaranteed by the constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and urging against the use of laws to suppress freedom of opinion and expression.
SHOAA urges the Algerian authorities to ensure the security and safety of Djamila Bentouis and all other detainees of opinion, and to immediately and unconditionally release her along with other detainees currently held in Algeria for peacefully exercising their fundamental freedoms.
