Thousands of Algerians marched through the capital Friday denouncing what they said were sweeping arrests of members of the Hirak pro-democracy protest movement.
"Police everywhere, justice nowhere", one sign read carried by the marchers.
The march was seen as a test of the Hirak's popularity, after police stopped a weekly student march in Algiers on Tuesday, arresting swathes of supporters.
When the demonstrators were released, they are made to pledge not to participate in Hirak marches again, risking arrest if they do, said Said Salhi, from the Algerian League for Human Rights (LADDH).
"It is intimidation and a way of exerting pressure to weaken the Hirak," Salhi said, calling it "an attack on public freedoms contrary to the right guaranteed by law".
The National Committee for the Liberation of Prisoners (CNLD) estimates around 70 people are in prison over their links with the Hirak or other peaceful opposition political activity.
Despite high temperatures and people fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, large crowds marched through Algiers for "Friday 115," the number of weeks since the Hirak protesters began on February 22, 2019.
"Release our children so that they fast with us during this Ramadan", chanted the protesters.
The demonstrators also repeated their opposition to the country's forthcoming legislative elections in June.
The Hirak protest movement was sparked over president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term in office.
The ailing autocrat was forced to step down weeks later, but the Hirak has continued its demonstrations, demanding a sweeping overhaul of a ruling system in place since Algeria's independence from France in 1962.
On Thursday, Algeria released on probation Karim Tabbou, a leading opposition activist, after his arrest the day before.
Tabbou, who was handed a one-year suspended sentence last year for "undermining state security", was charged on eight counts, including "slander", after he allegedly heckled an official in public during a funeral.
Tabbou and other government opponents have pledged to boycott the upcoming polls.
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