Algerian police clashed with pro-democracy protesters in the capital yesterday, leaving multiple casualties, as they blocked a march on parliament that had fuelled fears of Tunisia-style unrest.
The opposition said at least 42 people had been injured during the clashes, including two seriously. The interior ministry put the number of injured at 19, including 11 protesters or passers-by, and eight police.
Said Sadi, the head of the opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), said that party spokesman Mohsen Belabbes was among the injured, while the head of the party’s parliamentary group, Othmane Amazouz, had been arrested.
Another of the party’s MPs, Arezki Aiter, was detained but released after an hour, the party said.
Around 300 people had gathered for the rally, intending to march from the city’s Place de la Concorde to the parliament building, but they were quickly blockaded by police armed with batons and tear gas, which prevented the group from moving for six hours before it dispersed.
While the interior ministry put the number of arrests at nine, Sadi said his party’s headquarters in the city’s main avenue had been besieged, describing himself as “a prisoner”.
“We cannot wage a peaceful campaign when we are under siege,” he said, using a megaphone to address the crowd from a first-floor window.
The protesters in the street below waved Tunisian as well as Algerian flags and shouted “A free Algeria, a democratic Algeria” in Arabic, and “Murder State”.
An AFP journalist saw one of the party’s regional leaders, Reda Boudraa, bleeding from a head wound after being hit by police. Boudraa was taken away in an ambulance .
Said vowed the RCD would mount further protests, despite the government ban, saying his supporters were preparing “for the next demonstrations,” planned for February 9, anniversary of the state of emergency declared in 1992.
A government statement, carried by APS Friday, said: “Citizens are asked to show wisdom and vigilance and not respond to possible provocation aimed at disturbing their tranquillity, peace of mind and serenity.”
“Marches are not allowed in Algiers” under the state of emergency, the statement warned, adding that “all assemblies on public roads are considered a breach of public order”.
The Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH) said yesterday the blanket government ban on peaceful protest could cause a social explosion.
“The fact of banning peaceful marches undertaken by the parties and civil society is leading us towards an explosion,” the group’s president Mostefa Bouchachi told AFP.
The LADDH, the RCD, four trade unions and another party, the Socialist Forces Front (FFS), announced last Friday the formation of a national movement for democracy.
But the FFS said yesterday it was backing out of preparations for a further march.
Mounting public grievances over unemployment and rising costs sparked protests in Algeria earlier this month which left five people dead and more than 800 injured.
The government responded swiftly by reducing the prices of oil, sugar and other basic necessities which had risen sharply, while buying up a million tonnes of wheat amid assurances that subsidies on essential goods like flour would continue.