The mother and sister of the political activist, Amira Bouraoui, were arrested in Algiers by elements of the gendarmerie, said Sunday an NGO and sources close to the family relayed by several media.
According to the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (CNLD), the mother of the activist, Khadidja Bouaroui, 71, and her sister, Wafa, were arrested on Saturday evening by gendarmes in Algiers, and their home was searched.
The sister was released early on Sunday, but the mother “has been transferred” to Annaba (east), near the border with Tunisia, where she “risks being brought before the prosecutor”, indicated the CNLD.
A cousin of the family was also arrested and placed in police custody in Annaba, according to the same sources.
The day before, Wafa Bouraoui had posted a message in which she denounced the night visits of plainclothes police who harassed her and her mother.
Algerian security elements bursting into their homes demanded that the two women say “whether they were proud” of Amira’s escape.
“Sending us two days in a row, late at night, undercover agents to pressure us with an elderly and sick mother is just unconscionable. I understand better why my sister preferred to leave,” wrote Wafa Bouraoui.
This double arrest caused a shock in Algeria where there has been no lack of abuse of authority over the past three years.
The CNLD deplores these practices which have been used against relatives of Hirakistes and activists who have supported the families of detainees.
The organization stresses that a “regime which behaves in such a way precipitates its fall, if it is not already in a state of total collapse”.
It is true that with these two arrests, a step has just been taken in the Algerian political regression, considers the committee.
Amira Bouraoui, forbidden to leave Algerian territory, joined France through Tunisia. A case that caused a diplomatic incident between Algiers and Paris.