The case of Lazhar Zouaïmia is the tip of the iceberg. The return to Canada last week of the Hydro-Québec technician, detained for 76 days in Algeria for crimes of opinion, gave hope to several other Quebecers of Algerian origin who were also prevented from leaving this African country. of the North after a visit to their family. And this, for several months.
An unbearable and incomprehensible situation for these citizens with dual nationality forced to deal with the arbitrariness of the Algerian autocratic regime as well as with the indifference and lack of help from the Canadian government to find home, life and family here, deplore- they.
“It’s a traumatic and painful experience”, drops Hassina Bourza on the other end of the wire from the city of Sétif, in Algeria, where she arrived on December 17 for a stay of a few weeks which dragged on . Against his will. “I lost my business. I’m far from my husband, from my children, and it’s a situation that has turned the lives of everyone around me upside down, without anyone knowing how to get out of it. »
Similar situations
Next Saturday, the young woman, owner of a family daycare center in the Montreal region which she can no longer take care of, says that she will try once again to return to the country, after a failure last February. “Lazhar’s return encouraged me to take action,” she says.
Arrested at Algiers airport, questioned for several hours, she had then missed her flight and lost the amount spent on the purchase of her ticket. No charges have been brought against her. The authorities, she said, questioned her at length about her support and participation in demonstrations in Montreal for the Algerian pro-democracy movement, Hirak, born in the streets more than three years ago.
“We ask why we are being held back and we get no answer,” says Hadjira Belkacen, also an early childhood educator in Quebec, placed in the same situation for nearly four months, after a simple family visit in the suburbs of Algiers, where The duty reached her by telephone this week. Prevented from returning to Montreal, like other Canadians of Algerian origin, she was accused by the regime of “supporting a terrorist organization”, accusations used deliberately by the power in place to silence the opposition.
Since last June, moreover, a reform of the Algerian Penal Code has allowed the regime of Abdelmadjid Tebboune to assimilate to “terrorism” and “sabotage” any call to “change the system of governance by non-constitutional means”. This especially includes the use of social networks to promote the Hirak or to denounce the hardening of the regime in the face of the democratic demands of the Algerians.
“I am accused of terrorism, because I came home with $ 2,000 on me, which is not prohibited by law, deplores Mme Belkacen. Moreover, this sum was not a problem when I returned to the country, but it became one when I tried to leave. If that’s not bullying, I don’t know what is! »
The Montrealer is surprised by this treatment, since she claims never to have taken part in demonstrations in favor of Hirak in Montreal. “I am involved in my community, yes. I help people who are grieving from a distance, who are going through difficult times, says Hadjira Belkacen. But that shouldn’t make me a threat. »
“I have been away from my husband and my three children for four months,” she continues. And when I knocked on the door of the Canadian Embassy, I was told that nothing could be done for me. That’s a shame. All I want is to be back with my family, my job, my life. »
“Continuous support”
Contacted by The duty, the office of the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, refused Tuesday to address the question of these Canadians held against their will in Algeria. In a terse statement, the federal ministry said its “consular officers provide ongoing support and consular assistance” to these citizens. An assertion contradicted by several Canadian nationals stranded in Algeria as well as by their family members waiting for them here.
Interview requests from The duty to the representatives of the Algerian regime in Canada have remained a dead letter.
“Quebecers of Algerian origin are the target of a campaign of intimidation by the Algerian regime”, assures Cherine, a teacher from the Montreal region who was also detained and interrogated at the Algiers airport, “by the political police”, she said, when she returned to the country a few weeks ago. She had to do it twice before she could finally board for Montreal. She testified on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the regime against her family who remained there.
“This tactic also seems to have worked,” she adds. No one comes to demonstrate at Place du Canada [lieu de rassemblement hebdomadaire depuis 2019 des Canadiens d’origine algérienne pour témoigner de leur soutien au Hirak]. »
“When you have family in Algeria, you feel helpless and vulnerable in the face of these illegal and arbitrary arrests,” she continues. We all hope that this tyranny will end soon, so that we can visit our loved ones with joy rather than terror and uncertainty. »
On Tuesday in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Bloc Québécois MP Denis Trudel hailed the return to the country last week of Lazhar Zouaïmia, a resident of his riding, calling him a “symbol of courage” and a “defender of principle and values that we all cherish, namely democracy, the rule of law, freedom and respect for human dignity,” he said. The MP also called for Canada to strengthen its ties with Africa in order to support members of civil societies who, there as here, “demand more democracy” in the countries of this continent.