Trial of Trade Unionist Ali Mammeri on 29 October 2025

🗓️ Published on: 10/28/2025

Algerian trade unionist Ali Mammeri will appear Tomorrow, October 29, 2025, 29 October 2025, before the Oum El Bouaghi court, after more than seven months of arbitrary detention.

He was arrested at his workplace on 19 March and held in incommunicado detention for several days, during which he reports having been subjected to torture.

He is charged with “intentionally disseminating or publishing information or documents through electronic communications or an information system with the intent to undermine public order and public tranquillity,” with “advocating, encouraging, or financing terrorist and subversive acts by any means,” as well as with the “deliberate reproduction and publication of documents, printed materials, or recordings that praise terrorist and subversive acts,” based on Articles 87 bis 1, 87 bis 4, and 87 bis 5 of the Criminal Code, as well as Articles 34 and 39 of Ordinance No. 21-09 on the protection of administrative information and documents.

The judicial proceedings against him are directly linked to his public advocacy for human and trade union rights, notably through his involvement with the Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP), his mobilization efforts within the cultural sector, and his support for prisoners of conscience. This case stands as a stark example of the abusive use of counter-terrorism legislation to suppress peaceful and legitimate trade union activities.

In response to these violations, MENA Rights Group andthe Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP), the Justitia Center for Legal Protection of Human Rights submitted a complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, requesting the issuance of an opinion declaring Ali Mammeri’s detention arbitrary under international law, and urging the Algerian authorities to ensure his immediate release.

Prior to this, the Confederation submitted another complaint to the ILO Committee of Experts, which promptly intervened with the Algerian authorities. The Committee is expected to review the case of Ali Mammeri, along with other cases, during its upcoming session in November, and to issue its conclusions and observations in its annual report in March 2026.