On 7 March, Yahia Ben Ammar, an Algerian social justice activist, will come before a court in El Oued, southern Algeria, on charges in relation to his exercise of his right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly during peaceful protests in late 2016, as well as on charges of insulting and assaulting police following his arrest in January 2017 in a separate case. He reported that police officers ill-treated him in custody at the time. Amnesty International fears that the “insult” charges may have been trumped up in order to silence him.
