Algeria frees first activists after presidential pardons

Dozens are in prison over links with the Hirak movement or peaceful opposition political activity, says rights group.

Algeria released a dozen “Hirak” protest movement activists from jail on Friday, the first batch freed under presidential pardons issued ahead of the second anniversary of a popular uprising. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, in a long-awaited speech to the nation late Thursday, declared dozens of pardons in a gesture of appeasement as the protest movement gathers momentum once again. The “Hirak”, meaning “movement” in Arabic, swept former strongman Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power in 2019, but continued after his fall.