Algeria detains opposition figure

ALGIERS: A leading Algerian opposition activist has been detained and is to appear before prosecutors on Thursday, his lawyer said, weeks ahead of elections he and other opponents have pledged to boycott.

Karim Tabbou, a key figure in demonstrations that forced longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to resign in 2019, was handed a one-year suspended sentence last year for "undermining state security".

His detention comes as the pro-democracy protest movement known as Hirak has sought to regain some of the momentum it lost when it suspended street rallies just over a year ago due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tabbou was summoned to the police station on Wednesday evening to respond to a complaint filed against him by Bouzid Lazhari, the president of the National Council for Human Rights, an official body.