Event Summary
Activist Lyes Touati has been detained since his arrest in the wilaya of Béjaïa on 15 December 2025, spending 50 days in pre-trial detention as of 3 February 2026. His case was downgraded from the initial terrorism-related charges to correctional offences after the indictment chamber dismissed Article 87 bis. The accusation stems from a Facebook post. Despite the reclassification, his detention continues, and his trial has been slow to materialise. According to his support committee, Touati is now scheduled to appear before the Béjaïa court on 5 February 2026 under Article 196 bis for allegedly disseminating “false information.” Civil society actors have flagged the lack of credible evidence to justify ongoing detention and raised concerns that legal processes appear to be used to deter dissent.