Algeria detains leading opposition figure Karim Tabbou

Karim Tabbou and other Hirak movement activists are boycotting the legislative elections slated to be held in June.

Karim Tabbou, a key figure in anti-government demonstrations that forced longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign in 2019, has been detained, according to his lawyer, weeks ahead of elections that Tabbou and other opposition activists have pledged to boycott. Tabbou, who was handed a one-year suspended sentence last year for “undermining state security”, is expected to appear before prosecutors on Thursday, his lawyer Ali Fellah Benali said on social media. “Algeria’s youth is determined to fight for their right to a dignified life,” Tabbou, 47, told the AFP news agency ahead of his detention.