On Thursday, Algerian dissident Karim Tabou was released, but placed under judicial supervision after being detained for 48 hours, according to local media.
The news website Tariq News said that Tabou was placed under judicial control after an investigative judge heard him at the Kolia Court, west of Algiers.
Tabou Jaafar’s brother said that the dissident was arrested on Tuesday evening at his home in the capital, and was arrested as a precautionary measure.
Jaafar reported on social media, quoting lawyer Tawfiq Bilala, that his brother “was arrested in Dali Ibrahim by two policemen in civilian clothes,” noting that he had not received clarifications about the nature of the accusations against his brother.
Karim Tabou, 48, heads a small opposition party, the Democratic and Social Union, which did not obtain a permit from the authorities. He is also one of the most popular figures in the movement that took place in Algeria from February 2019 to early 2020.
Tabbou was sentenced in March 2020 and served a one-year prison sentence for “undermining national security” over a video posted on his party’s Facebook account in which he criticized government and army interference in political affairs.
According to the National Committee for the Release of Detainees, dozens of those linked to the movement or the defense of individual freedoms are still imprisoned in Algeria.
