Key protest figure Tabbou to go free in Algeria: lawyer

A key figure belonging to Algeria's protest movement, Karim Tabbou, is to be freed provisionally from prison, his lawyer said Wednesday.

"The request for his provisional release has been accepted. He will be released on Thursday," Abdelghani Badi told AFP.

Amnesty International, which lobbied for his release, welcomed the news.

Tabbou, 47, is one of the most prominent if not the best-known figure of "Hirak" -- a protest movement that forced the downfall last April of longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Sosiane Djilali, head of an opposition party, said a month ago that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had told him in a meeting he would "ensure that Karim Tabbou and Samir Benlarbi regain their freedom".

Benlarbi, a media personality, has been held in preventive detention, while Tabbou is serving a one-year term for an "attack on the integrity of national territory".

Tabbou also faces a charge of "damaging the morale of the army", in a trial which has been postponed to September 14.

Weekly anti-government protests rocked Algeria for more than a year and only came to a halt in March due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, with the authorities banning marches -- although the opposition had already stopped gathering, due to concerns about the virus.

But the Algerian government continues to target opponents, journalists, independent media and internet users.

According to the National Committee for the Release of Detainees, almost 70 people are currently detained on charges linked to the protest movement, mostly over Facebook posts.