The Algerian Judiciary has refused to provisionally release the prominent independence war veteran Lakhdar Bouregaa, his lawyers announced in a statement seen by AFP on Thursday.
Bouregaa, 86, has been jailed for one month now over charges of “contributing to weakening the army’s morale” and “insulting authorities.”
His arrest on June 30 has sparked widespread condemnation. Activists, journalists and university students said in a petition posted on social media that “this arrest is a serious deviation.”
Many believe that he was arrested for criticizing Army Chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah, who has become the country’s strongman after Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down on April 2 under pressure from mass protests.
The examining magistrate has rejected a request for Bouregaa’s provisional release, submitted by the Lawyers Collective for Change and Dignity, the group asserted in a statement published on Facebook.
The group was established in March to defend those detained during demonstrations that began on February 22.
According to the statement, the request was based on Bouregaa’s health conditions and backed up by a medical file, and this rejection reaffirms that the judiciary in Algeria is not subject to the law.
Bouregaa was a commander of the National Liberation Army (ALN) -- which fought the French colonial power -- and a founder in 1963 of the Front for Socialist Forces, one of Algeria’s oldest opposition parties.
He supported and participated in the demonstrations until his arrest along with many others. The demonstrating movement and the dialogue body have been demanding their release as a precondition to start a dialogue and get out of the crisis.
While interim President Abdelkader Bensalah seemed flexible and agreed on this demand, Salah, however, fully rejected it, which could complicate the course of the dialogue.
The authority is incapable of resolving this crisis, said lawyer and political activist Mokrane Ait Larbi.
He stressed that shifting attention from major issues of concern to all Algerians has returned through detaining dozens of people due to their political stances, referring to Bouregaa, presidential candidate Louisa Hanoune and many others for raising the Amazigh flag.
If the authority really wants to solve the multidimensional crisis, especially that of rights and freedoms, it must only listen to the voice of wisdom and respond to the peaceful revolution’s demands.
