Algeria

The US Secretary of Defense continues his three-day visit to North Africa, which is also his first trip to the African continent. After Tunisia yesterday, Mark Esper made a stopover in Algiers on October 1, before heading for Morocco tomorrow. No Pentagon leader has visited Algeria since Donald Rumsfeld in 2006. The goal is to strengthen cooperation between the two countries on security issues.…

Since then, I believe that for more than a year, there have been hundreds of lawsuits against militants, activists, journalists, without these activists or these militants having committed offenses punishable by Algerian criminal law. It is only that they expressed themselves over Hirak, the management of the country's affairs. It is for this reason that there have been a lot of lawsuits, there are dozens and dozens of Algerians sitting in prisons for having expressed an opinion. And we, the lawyers, felt unable to do…

The National Committee for the Release of Detainees, an association that supports detainees in Hirak, speaks of an "incredible and unacceptable" phrase. According to the CNLD, 60 people are currently being detained for actions related to the Algerian protest movement. The heaviest of the sentences uttered this Sunday relates to Brahim Laalami. Prosecuted in seven cases, he received a total of three years in prison and a fine of one million dinars or more than 6,000 euros, according to the National Committee for the…