For months, there have been reports that the leadership of Algeria is targeting the families of its opponents, starting from Amira Bouraoui in February. Now there are reports that the 90-year-old father and three siblings of well-known activist Anouar Malek were imprisoned on Sunday morning, shortly after he released a video where he spoke positively of the Moroccan Sahara.
According to Malek, Yahia Ali Oulhadj, the head of the Algerian gendarmerie, ordered the jailing of Malek’s relatives. Malek is an Algerian journalist based in France. He is also an author, former officer, political activist, and international human rights observer.
Malek’s family home was raided as a response to his strong opposition to the Algerian regime and he compared the raid to French treatment of Algerians during the colonial era. Malek asserted that his father and grandfather, in addition to his uncle, were treated similarly by both the French colonial regime and the current Algerian leadership, and he also recalled how his grandfather was tortured to death.
Malek also outlined the extent of the terrible psychological harm to his family members solely because of his views and political attitudes against the military regime.
According to Moroccan newspaper Assabah, his video on the Moroccan Sahara was viewed by millions of people. In it he outlined that life in the Moroccan Sahara is calm, politically stable, and he praised the numerous development projects occurring there in the past few years.
Malek specifically mentioned the provinces of Sakia El Hamra, Oued Eddahab, Smara, Aousserd, Guergarate, and Dakhla, which have seen spectacular urban development despite Morocco not being an oil and gas producer.