On May 6, 2024, the Algerian authorities promulgated a new Penal Code, which reinforces a repressive legal climate and further limits fundamental rights in the country. Although the Penal Code was presented as a response to “the abuses of websites, mobile applications and platforms allowing the creation of a social link”, it still raised concerns among journalists, lawyers, political activists and ordinary citizens. One of the most controversial provisions provides for penalties ranging from five years’ imprisonment to life imprisonment for anyone who “divulges confidential information and documents relating to national security and/or the national economy, via social networks or to foreign countries or one of their agents”. The Penal Code comes in context of the Algerian president having decided to advance the presidential elections to September 2024 instead of the originally scheduled date in December 2024. In the run-up to the vote, the authorities restricted civic space and, in particular, members of the political opposition have been intimidated and harassed.
On September 7, 2024, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was re-elected for a second five-year term. The start of his term was marked by a large-scale amnesty pronounced on November 1, 2024, which benefited a number of prisoners of conscience, including prominent journalist Ihsane El Kadi, who was imprisoned since December 2022. Despite this positive step, French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal was arrested on November 16, 2024, with the Algerian government neither announcing his arrest nor offering an explanation for it. After disappearing for several days, he was charged with “undermining integrity of national territory”. His arrest came amid diplomatic tensions between France and Algeria.
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