On Monday, February 7th 2023, French political activist and journalist Amira Bouraoui was released from Kolea prison in Algeria and put on a plane bound for France. Her release follows a series of ongoing lawsuits and persecution in Algeria as a result of her peaceful activism and opinions.
Thanks to her French lawyer François Zimeray, Amira was released from pre-trial detention on Monday, adjourned to February 23rd. In addition, Tunisian lawyer Hashem Badra made certain that she would not be deported to Algeria despite the attempted “kidnapping and sequestration by certain law enforcement authorities in Tunisia, at the request of the Algerian authorities”.
However, Amira had been previously jailed in Algeria in 2020 for “offending” Islam and was already facing a two-year prison sentence. She had also unsuccessfully tried to leave Algeria in recent months to visit her son who is based in France.
The case of Amira Bouraoui has been seen as an example of the dangers of persecution and political crackdown that so many activists have had to face across the world. With her happy ending, Amira’s story serves as a reminder of the importance of human rights activism and the struggle for freedom of speech and expression.