Thousands of Algerian protesters support Hirak in Paris

PARIS - Thousands of Algerians living in France took to the streets of Paris on Sunday to support the Hirak in Algeria of the third anniversary of the anti-government protest movement which pushed out longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power in 2019.

The protesters, mostly from the Algerian diaspora chanted slogans, calling for "freedom, justice and democracy in Algeria”, the release of all political prisoners and a radical change of Algeria’s military-led political system at the Place de la République in the French capital.

The Hirak, a peaceful popular uprising erupted on February 22,2019 in Algiers and other major cities of the North African country, forcing Bouteflika to resign in April that year.

Determined to break up the Hirak protest movement, the government has banned its demonstrations and stepped up legal proceedings against opponents, activists, journalists and academics.

Around 300 people are currently behind bars on charges related to the Hirak, according to the CNLD prisoners’ rights group.

UN experts and Special Rapporteurs accused the Algerian regime of "politically instrumentalizing terrorism" to suppress public freedoms.

“According to the information received, and since 2019, an increasing number of activists, journalists and human rights defenders who have played a role in the protest movement (Hirak) were prosecuted on charges related to terrorism,” said the experts in a communication addressed on December 27 to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).