On 8 February, Algerian journalist Mustapha Bendjama was at his office when police officers suddenly detained him, seizing his computer and cell phone.
The country’s security forces as well as its political establishment had been on edge after Amira Bouraoui, a longtime dissident who was legally forbidden from leaving Algeria, fled to France via Tunisia, provoking a crisis involving the three countries.
Bendjama had himself been banned from leaving the country in November 2019. Although the decision was lifted by the Algerian justice in April 2022, the police continued to enforce it arbitrarily. On three occasions afterwards, as he attempted to cross the border, Bendjama was stopped. Continue
