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Algerian Lawyers Demand Release of Prisoners Infected with Coronavirus

Police officers are seen at El Harrach prison in Algiers, Algeria, on June 13, 2019. Reuters file photo
Police officers are seen at El Harrach prison in Algiers, Algeria, on June 13, 2019. Reuters file photo
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Algerian Lawyers Demand Release of Prisoners Infected with Coronavirus

Police officers are seen at El Harrach prison in Algiers, Algeria, on June 13, 2019. Reuters file photo
Police officers are seen at El Harrach prison in Algiers, Algeria, on June 13, 2019. Reuters file photo

Algerian lawyers demanded the release of retired Major General Ali Ghediri, who went on a hunger strike last week and which was suspended when he tested positive for the coronavirus.

Ghediri’s lawyer, Khalid Burayo, told Asharq Al-Awsat that his client's condition is stable.

He asked the prison administration to transfer him to a hospital for treatment, and urged the authorities to issue orders for the judiciary to temporarily release him, pending his trial.

In June 2019, authorities convicted Ghediri, and then army chief of staff Lieutenant-General Ahmed Gaid Saleh ordered his imprisonment.

Burayo stressed that Ghediri’s infection with the COVID-19 disease is a strong reason for the authorities to release him, especially since he has been in pretrial detention for over a year, and his charge does not require him to be kept in prison.

Ghediri, 65, has been accused of “treason and spying for the benefit of foreign powers” and “attempting to weaken the army’s morale.”

A few months ago, he was acquitted of the first charge, and Burayo said the second is “political” after Ghediri made a few media statements concerning the army, which didn’t appease the military leadership, in reference to Gaid Saleh, who died of a heart attack at the end of last year.

The lawyer confirmed that Ghediri’s case has all the conditions for a temporary release, which is a legal mechanism that compensates pretrial detention for defendants who are not involved in serious crimes.

He wondered if giving political statements is a crime that deserves imprisonment.

Ghediri is a former official of the Defense Ministry and ran for the presidential elections in 2019.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Miloud Brahimi stated that his clients, former Trade Minister Amara Benyounes and former director general of a state tourism company, Hamid Melzi, contracted the coronavirus a week ago. Both were prominent officials during the rule of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and are accused of corruption.

The lawyer confirmed that the former chief of protocol at the presidency, Mokhtar Reguieg, was transferred from his cell to the prison clinic after showing symptoms of COVID-19. Reguieg, a top Bouteflika aide, is also accused of corruption.

Brahimi, one of the founders of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH), said that putting hundreds of prisoners in pretrial detention increases the possibility of infection spreading among them.

He called on President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to release those who do not pose a threat to society.

Last week, the family of former minister Musa Benhamadi accused the prison administration of negligence after he died in prison from COVID-19.

In addition, two former prime ministers, Ahmed Ouyahia and Abdelmalek Sellal, who are both convicted with heavy sentences, have suffered complications due to the coronavirus and have been in hospital for the past week.

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UNRWA Says ‘Growing Concerns’ Annexation behind Israeli West Bank Operation

An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 04 March 2025. (EPA)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 04 March 2025. (EPA)
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UNRWA Says ‘Growing Concerns’ Annexation behind Israeli West Bank Operation

An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 04 March 2025. (EPA)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen during a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 04 March 2025. (EPA)

A major offensive in the occupied West Bank which over several weeks has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians and ravaged refugee camps increasingly appears to be part of Israel's "vision of annexation", a UN official told AFP.

Israeli forces carry out regular raids targeting gunmen in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, but the ongoing operation since late January is already the longest in two decades, with dire effects on Palestinians.

"It's an unprecedented situation, both from a humanitarian and wider political perspective," said Roland Friedrich, director of West Bank affairs for UNRWA, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees.

"We talk about 40,000 people that have been forcibly displaced from their homes" in the northern West Bank, mainly from three refugee camps where the operation had begun, said Friedrich.

"These camps are now largely empty," their residents unable to return and struggling to find shelter elsewhere, he said.

Inside the camps, the level of destruction to "electricity, sewage and water, but also private houses" was "very concerning", Friedrich added.

The Israeli operation, which the military says targets gunmen in the northern West Bank, was launched shortly after a truce took hold in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, a separate Palestinian territory.

The operation initially focused on Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps, where UNRWA operates, but has since expanded to more areas of the West Bank's north.

Friedrich warned that as the offensive drags on, there are increasing signs -- some backed by official Israeli statements -- that it could morph into permanent military presence in Palestinian cities.

"There are growing concerns that the reality being created on the ground aligns with the vision of annexation of the West Bank," he said.

- 'Political operation' -

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said troops would remain for many months in the evacuated camps to "prevent the return of residents and the resurgence of terrorism".

And Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician who lives in one of dozens of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, has said that Israel would be "applying sovereignty" over parts of the territory in 2025.

According to Friedrich, "the statements we are hearing indicate that this is a political operation. It is clearly being said that people will not be allowed to return."

Last year the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion saying that Israel's prolonged presence in the West Bank was unlawful.

Away from home, the displaced Palestinian residents also grapple with a worsening financial burden.

"There is an increasing demand now, especially in Jenin, for public shelter, because people can't pay these amounts for rent anymore," said Friedrich.

"Everyone wants to go back to the camps."

The UN official provided examples he said pointed to plans for long-term Israeli presence inside Palestinian cities, which should be under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

"In Tulkarem you have more and more reports about the army just walking around... asking shop owners to keep the shops open, going out and issuing traffic tickets to cars, so almost as if there is no Palestinian Authority," said Friedrich.

"It is very worrying, including for the future of the PA as such and the investments made by the international community into building Palestinian institutions."

The Ramallah-based PA was created in the 1990s as a temporary government that would pave the way to a future sovereign state.

- 'Radicalization' -

UNRWA is the main humanitarian agency for Palestinians, but a recent law bars the agency from working with the Israeli authorities, hindering its badly needed operations.

"It's much more complicated for us now because we can't speak directly to the military anymore," said Friedrich.

"But at the same time, we continue to do our work," he said, assessing needs and coordinating "the actual emergency response on the ground".

Israeli lawmakers had passed the legislation against UNRWA's work over accusations that it had provided cover for Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip -- claims the UN and many donor governments dispute.

The prolonged Israeli operation could have long-term consequences for residents, particularly children traumatized by the experience of displacement, Friedrich warned.

"If people can't go back to the camp and we can't reopen the schools... clearly, that will lead to more radicalization going forward."

He said the situation could compound a legitimacy crisis for the PA, often criticized by armed Palestinian factions for coordinating security matters with Israel.

Displaced Palestinians "feel that they are kicked out of their homes and that nobody is supporting them", said Friedrich.

A "stronger international response" was needed, he added, "both to provide humanitarian aid on the ground, and secondly, to ensure that the situation in the West Bank doesn't spin out of control".