Kabylie independence movement strongly rejects Algiers’ terrorism accusations

Kabylie independence movement (known by its French acronym MAK) has strongly rejected the terrorism accusations put forward with very scant evidence by the Algerian regime.

MAK, led by Farhat Mhenni in exile, has gained traction in the restive Kabylie region, an area that was particularly targeted with impoverishment, repression, and marginalization by a ruthless military junta.

But stubborn in its desperate attempt to portray MAK as a terrorist group, the Algerian regime claimed that authorities arrested 17 MAK activists who had planned attacks backed by the “Zionist entity” and a “state in north Africa.”

The arrested Kabylians “have nothing to do with MAK,” Aksel Ameziane, spokesperson for the Kabylian government in exile, told AFP.

“The Algerian regime attempts to demonize Kabylie and the MAK in order to distract from its catastrophic management at all levels,” MAK said in an official statement.

MAK reiterated its attachment to the peaceful struggle for the self-determination of the Kabylie people, adding that Kabylie is facing a brutal crackdown by the regime which sent scores of innocent people to jails without trial.

The Algerian media hit a new low by publishing a documentary on the presumed MAK cell, flouting the presumption of innocence and human rights, including the right to a fair trial by showing the arrested people hand-cuffed and bare-faced while accusing them of terrorism, a charge that they denied.

Last week, over 50,000 Kabylians marched in Paris in support of MAK and the independence of their country while denouncing the crimes of the Algerian regime.