Maghreb Edition

Algeria: Birthplace of the Hirak movement, Kherrata experiences first post-confinement rallyF

Posted On 19 August 2020

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This article is sponsored by MEA Risk LLC

We may have missed this story and reported as a minor event, and in fact, no national newspapers reported it, but thousands of people came out to demonstrate against the Algerian regime on Saturday, 15 August in Kherrata, 60 km east of Bejaia, in what was the first post-deconfinement rally.  As in February 2019, the people of Kherrata were the first to launch the Hirak protest movement to demand regime change. They were thousands last Saturday who braved the governments’ prohibitions, in a mass rally that called for the release of political prisoners, the establishment of a transitional period and a number of other demands of political nature.

It is still early to predict whether this rally would lead to a full resumption of the Hirak movement, since the coronavirus pandemic continued to weigh heavily on organizers and the general public elsewhere. Government repression has also added to fear of more violence from the police. However, many observers and hirak activists say the increase in stress on the population with the lockdowns, growing unemployment, repression, the lack of liquidity are likely to play a catalyst role in the resumption of the anti-government movement.

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