This archive report was first published on 2 January 2020.
On Thursday, Algeria released well-known independence war veteran Lakhdar Bouregaa, who was detained last June for allegedly insulting the army.
According to his lawyer, Abdelghani Badi, Bouregaa's trial, which was due to start on Thursday morning, was postponed, and the judge decided to release him.
Bouregaa, 86, was arrested at his home in Algiers for 'insulting a state body' and 'taking part in a scheme to demoralise the army with the aim of harming the nation's defence.'
His supporters attributed his detention to his criticism of army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah, who became Algeria's de facto strongman after the fall of longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April 2019.
Badi stated that Bouregaa, who underwent emergency surgery for a hernia during his detention in November, would remain free during his trial, which has been postponed until March 12.
Bouregaa was a commander of the National Liberation Army, which fought French colonial rule, and a founder in 1963 of the Front for Socialist Forces, one of Algeria's oldest opposition parties.
Before his arrest, he took part in the demonstrations that have rocked Algeria since February 2019, initially against Bouteflika, and then the wider establishment, after the president was forced to resign.
