Arrest of Algerian Opponent Karim Tabou on Charges of "Insult and Defamation"

Algerian opponent Karim Tabou, regarded as a symbol of the pro-democracy movement, was arrested on Wednesday evening in Algiers following a complaint filed by the head of the government human rights authority, according to his lawyer Ali Fallah Ben Ali. Social media platforms reported that Tabou (47 years old) will be presented to the prosecution on Thursday after being summoned to the police station on Wednesday to respond to a complaint lodged against him by Bouzid Lakhzari, the head of the National Human Rights Council, which is an official body. Lakhzari filed the complaint citing "insult and defamation" against Tabou, who allegedly attacked him during the funeral of lawyer Ali Yahia Abdennour, a veteran human rights advocate in Algeria, on Monday at a cemetery in the capital. Karim Tabou, who was imprisoned from September 2019 to July 2020, is a well-known face in the protests against the regime since the start of the movement over two years ago.