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The Case of Algerian Anti-Corruption Activist and Asylum-Seeker in Spain – Mohamed Abdellah – Three Years Later

Mohamed AbdellahBy Updated:No Comments12 Mins Read

About Mohamed Abdellah

Darki Mohamed Abdellah (Arabic: دركي محمد عبدالله ‎; born February 27, 1988 in Oran, Algeria) is an ex- aerial border patrol officer in the Algerian gendarmerie also known as al dark al watani (Arabic for gendarmerie) responsible for recording all activities on the North Eastern Algerian borders.

Mohamed Abdellah Detailed Background

Listen to him in his own words – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMq-hCyC31U

2007-2011:

Mohamed Abdellah graduated as a radio operator from the military school of Side Bel Abbes and Tiaret, where he specialized in Transmission. He joined the Tiririne unit in Ain Guezzam, south east Algeria, as a border patrol radio officer for a year. He was a sergeant. He then transferred to Biskra where he trained to use the helicopter recorders. He then moved to Blida and worked in Air Force unit 111 of the gendarmerie in Algiers and the surrounding area.

He then moved to Annaba where he worked for a year .

2012-2018

In 2012, Mohamed Abdellah moved to Tebessa where he worked for about 6 years. This is where he discovered that corruption within the military institution was the norm, not the exception. This is when he became a whistleblower.  

Mohamed Abdellah witnessed disturbing smuggling activities on a regular basis. He dutifully reported the illegal activities to his superiors only to be reprimanded for doing his job. Mohamed Abdellah came to find out over time that the systematic coverup of the illegal smuggling he was witnessing almost daily was in fact led by his higher-ups. The army officers who were supposed to protect the Algerian borders were using their ranks and powers to smuggle through them with complete impunity.

Mohamed Abdellah tried to blow the whistle on the massive corruption rings he was filming everyday over the borders. He found himself fighting against an entire system. The corruption was systemic and widespread. It is part and parcel of the system. It is everywhere.

In 2016, Mohamed Abdellah blew the whistle on Ammar Behlouli, the unit commander in Souk Ahras, who was overseeing the smuggling of arms across the borders. 

Other notable denunciations were: the baron of smuggling  Al Djmii who forced the governor of Tebessa, Al Wafi, out of his job. Senator Bou Jaber Samir who was at the top of the gendarmerie unit in Tebessa. 

The smuggling was reported to Gouasmia Noureddine who was his higher up then and who had been at the  top of the national gendarmerie from 2020 to June (or July?) 2021.

Mohamed Abdellah also blew the whistle on the helicopter crash in Ain Sefra that caused many deaths and  that was caused by unmaintained helicopters.

Mohamed Abdellah felt powerless in front of the massive corruption he was witnessing and also because of the disrespectful treatment he and his gendarme colleagues were getting from the smugglers who were arrogant and disinhibited by the sense of absolute power their connections in the army were giving them. He decided to leave Algeria in November 2018 with his wife and son.

Asylum in Spain and Sudden Expulsion

Mohamed Abdellah

Mohamed Abdellah in 2021
Born February 27, 1988 (age 33)Oran, Algeria, North Africa.
Occupation Former Chief Sergeant – Border Patrol Gendarme Officer
Employer Algerian Gendarmerie aka Dark Watani 2007 – Nov 08, 2018
Known for Revealing corruption cases of high-ranking officials within the Algerian army
Children 2

Mohamed Abdellah arrived in Spain on 11/09/2018 and received his first refugee card on 04/25/2019 that he renewed every 6 months.  

Mohamed Abdellah devoted his entire time and energy denouncing corruption through his YouTube channel and his Facebook pages. He became the public face of other whistle-blowers within the Algerian army, gendarmerie and secret services. He was notorious for his courage, integrity and values. He participated in the many rallies held across Spain and Europe as part of the Hirak Movement in Algeria – https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/12/algeria-hirak-protests/

Mohamed Abdellah’s revelations were not welcome by the Algerian military junta. He had been the subject of numerous harassments from operators working directly or indirectly for the Algerian officers he was denouncing. He was compelled to change residence to protect his life and the life of his family. One of the most notorious revelations he made was about crimes against humanity from an ex-officer, Ali Yahia Oulhaj who happened to be promoted a few months ago from deputy chief to the chief of the Gendarmerie at the beginning of August 2021. In this position of extreme power, Ali Yahia Oulhaj vowed to silence Mohamed Abdellah at all costs .

Events Since the Obscure Detention on August 11, 2021

After his relocation from Alicante to Vitoria, Mohamed Abdellah, went to report his new address to the Spanish police in his new location. He unexpectedly got arrested.  He was then taken to a detention center for illegal migrants. From there, events moved extremely fast, without due process and in a very obscure way.

Date Event
11/09/2018 Arrival in Spain
04/25/2019 First Asylum ID card to be renewed every 6 months
05/14/2019 Mohamed Abdellah was sentenced to 20-years in absentia by the Algerian Army
06 to 08 2020 Several instances of harassment from Algerian operatives of the Algerian government reported by Mohamed Abdellah and his wife
03/21/2021 International search warrant against Mohamed Abdellah, Amir Boukhors known as Amir DZ, Hichem Aboud and Mohamed Larbi Zitout on terrorism charges from the Algerian government
8/10/2021 Abdelmajid Tebboune – the sitting president of Algeria – makes public threats on TV to activists  abroad
Wednesday, 8/11/2021 Surprise arrest in a routine change of address at the police station
Thursday, 8/12/2021 Notification of the denial of asylum based on the accusations in the 3/21/2021 international search warrant.Denial of asylum decision was made on 07/13/2021 according to the 08/12/2021 notification
Saturday, 08/14/2021 Appeal filed
Friday, 08/20/2021 Notification of the expulsion order from Spain Ministry of Interior 
Friday, 8/20/2021 Case moved to EU court
Saturday, 08/21/2021 Denial of the appeal based on non-competency of the court
Saturday, 8/21/2021 Mohamed Abdellah was sent back to Algeria , expelled from Spain on an order from the Spanish ministry of Interior. He was not given any chance to defend himself
08/23/2021 Mohamed Abdellah is in the prison of El Harrach in Algiers – accusation: affiliation with an organization – Rashad – that has been classified in May 2021 as terrorist 
08/30/2021 Mohamed Abdellah is in the prison of Kolea near Algiers. He still doesn’t have an independent lawyer to represent him
10/11/2021 Mohamed Abdellah has been transferred to a military prison
10/14/2021 Mohamed Abdellah still doesn’t have an independent lawyer to represent him. He lost a lot of weight. His eyes are red. His face is not recognizable. He is surrounded by soldiers during the 15 min visit he gets every two weeks. He communicated that he was being tortured

12/27/2021

 A damning report is published by Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights on the state of freedoms in Algeria
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26905
01/01/2022 Mohamed Abdellah defense teams is officially constituted
01/02/2022 Mohamed Abdellah declared publicly in a hearing in Bir Mourad Rais that he had been tortured, humiliated, mistreated, deprived of all his rights and that he had been is solitary confinement for over 45 days.
The judge replied that he couldn’t do anything for him. This compelled the Mohamed Abdellah association to reach out to the UN for help. See communications: English – Arabic – Francais
02/20/2022 Mohamed Abdellah is finally removed from solitary confinement after more than 100 days. He’s lost a lot of weight but he started feeling a little better
03/24/2022 Mohamed Abdellah’s case is once against in the spotlight in Spain and in the UN because of the repeat of his case with Benhalima Mohamed Azzouz
05/22/2022 The Algerian defense team has reorganized
07/11/2022 Progress was made in the legal battle in Spain. The ministry of Interior – after being fined for obstructing justice – finally provided the lawyers with the file they have on Mohamed Abdellah that they used to make their infamous decision to expel  him from Spain.
The Spanish legal team is now preparing for the upcoming court hearing to defend Mohamed Abdellah
2023 The case of Mohamed Abdellah was submitted to the UN Committee Against Torture During the Review of Spain Report on July 20, 2023
2024 1. The special rapporteur on the case of Human Rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, was fully appraised of the case of Mohamed Abdellah when preparing to visit Algeria in November 2023 
2. The case of Mohamed Abdellah is in its last phase in the Spanish legal system. Last appeal was filed on July 27, 2024
3. The case of Mohamed Abdellah is with the UN working group again Arbitrary Detention. The case was accepted on August 5, 2024
The next step will be the European Court
4. Mohamed Abdellah’s legal team is preparing his case for the EU tribunal

 Legal Battles

Algeria

  • There are so many nonsensical cases against Mohamed Abdellah and so many unnecessary hearings and postponement of hearings…. we will not cite them here. The goal of the incredible numbers of cases and their lengthy and tortuous procedures is precisely to overwhelm the detainees, their lawyers and the public with an unbearable administrative weight. In reality, they are only overwhelming themselves with busy work, a waste of time and a dull life
  • Lawyers are doing their best to go through the motions. They are doing a great job providing moral support and guidance to Mohamed Abdellah. We are all hoping and praying that their efforts will lead to a fair and just outcome for Mohamed Abdellah
  • Mohamed Abdellah receives family visits every two weeks except when there are major events that block the roads like the December 2021 Arab Cup or the July 5th, 2022 celebrations. He still isn’t allowed to communicate with his wife and children. He still can only receive underwear, matches, honey, and olive oil. He is allowed to get books and is avidly requesting for more. Please, keep him is your duaas, send him books, write to him and try to attend his hearings if you can. Thank you for your moral support 🙏 

Europe

This is the next step after the current appeal in the Spanish courts is addressed. European court can only be engaged after all the legal avenues in the Spanish courts have been exhausted

United Nations and Other ONGs

The UN can help the case of Mohamed Abdellah and the hundreds of other prisoners by calling out the following abuses of the Algerian government

    • Use of torture and ill-treatment against prisoners of opinion in detention, and denial of medical care

    • Absence of independence of the judiciary

    • Serious and persistent violations of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and use of force against demonstrators

US State Department

Why is the case of Mohamed Abdellah Notable? 

    • The case of Mohamed Abdellah is a dangerous precedent for asylum-seekers and political refugees around the world. It is a violation of Human rights and international law just like the case of Brahim Lalami, another political refugee who was returned to Algeria after attempting to flee Algeria. He is currently is dire conditions under torture

    • The case of Mohamed Abdellah is a blow to the hirak inside Algeria and outside and a blow to Democracy. The loud and clear message from the Algerian military junta to the youth it is disconnected from is: “either you submit to our authority or we can and will get you wherever you are”. This is an abuse of power and a trampling on people’s basic freedoms

    • Using the “Terrorism” card against a well known independent pacifist political activist and handing him over to a military junta that is known for ruling through terror is a travesty of law and a complete masquerade of the word “Terrorism“. It is also an outright undermining of will of the millions of Algerians who have been protesting against the military junta since February 22, 2019 – UN DZA 12/2021

    • Spain is home to a number of ex-officers in the Algerian army and the profanely large amounts of public money they embezzled. The most notorious one is Khaled Nezzar. Khaled Nezzar is believed to be one of the key generals, along with General Toufik , behind the crimes against humanity committed in Algeria’s dirty war of the 90s that killed over 250,000 innocent civilians including women and children including an additional 20,000 people who simply vanished. The killings were perpetrated in the most gruesome way to spread fear and enable ruling through terror.

Reference

Related Reading

    • ^ Sheera Frenkel, Cecilia Kang (2021). An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination. Harper. ISBN 0062960679.

Media Coverage

Date Medium
27/08/2021 lahoradeafrica
26/08/2021 lavozdealmeria
24/08/2021 lopinion
23/08/2021 barronslapressemediapartmoroccoworldnewsdw.comes.rue20
22/08/2021 totbarcelonamediapart
20/08/2021 beteve.catelkhabar
19/08/2021 twitter.com/UCFRcat/facebook.com/ucfr.cat
17/08/2021 arabi21
17/08/2021 lahoradeafrica
14/08/2021 medium.comalgeria-watch
13/08/2021 lafriqueadultemediapart.fr

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