‘Clear escalation’ in government repression as Algeria heads to the polls after a time of protest

Algerians have taken to the streets en masse in the past few years and on 12 June vote in elections, but few think much will change, reports Simon Speakman Cordall

An Algerian man checks his mobile phone next to election posters in the capital Algiers ahead of the upcoming elections scheduled for June 12 (AFP via Getty Images)

The Algerian government has been accused of escalating its campaign of intimidation against pro democracy protesters ahead of legislative elections on 12 June.

In Algeria and the west, rights groups have criticised the crackdown as “unprecedented”, with a spokesperson for Human Rights Watch (HRW) telling The Independent the arrests marked a “clear escalation” in government repression.

Nevertheless, on Friday demonstrators again marched in admittedly reduced numbers across Algeria, their banners rejecting the entrenched influence of the closed circles of influence around the presidency and denouncing the forthcoming election as a deal with “the gangs of the Mafiosi”.