SAID
BOUDOUR

Background and Work

Said Boudour is a journalist and human rights defender based in Algeria. He is a member of the Algerian League for Human Rights, one of the country's oldest independent human rights organizations. His work has focused on organizing peaceful demonstrations, documenting the treatment of political prisoners, and defending the rights of migrants passing through Algeria. He became active during the Hirak protest movement, which began in February 2019 and called for democratic reforms, an end to corruption, and the resignation of long-standing political elites.

Boudour's journalism and human rights monitoring made him a target of state repression as authorities moved to suppress dissent following the Hirak. Dozens of activists, journalists, and defenders associated with the movement were prosecuted under terrorism, national security, and defamation laws. Boudour was among them.

The Charges

On 29 April 2021, the Public Prosecutor of Oran charged Boudour, along with human rights defenders Kaddour Chouicha and Jamila Loukil, in a criminal case involving terrorism-related offences. The charges included enrolment in a terrorist or subversive organization active abroad or in Algeria, conspiracy against state security to incite citizens to take up arms against state authority or to undermine the integrity of the national territory, and propaganda likely to harm the national interest, of foreign origin or inspiration. The case also included twelve other activists involved in the Hirak movement. If convicted, Boudour faced up to twenty years in prison.

The charges were part of a broader campaign to criminalize peaceful political dissent under the guise of counter-terrorism. No evidence of violent activity or terrorist association was presented in the case. The prosecution relied on the defendants' participation in protests, their online advocacy, and their association with civil society organizations.

Judicial Surveillance and Restrictions

Boudour was placed under judicial surveillance, a measure that severely restricted his freedom of movement and obstructed his work as a journalist and human rights monitor. On 4 August 2022, the fifth chamber of the specialized criminal court in Algiers rejected his appeal to withdraw the surveillance. On 21 August 2022, the Indictment Chamber of the Algiers Judicial Council upheld that decision on appeal.

The surveillance meant that Boudour could not leave his area of residence without permission, could not travel, and remained under constant monitoring. For a journalist whose work depends on access to sources, sites of abuse, and communities in need of documentation, the restrictions effectively ended his professional activity. The measure was used as a form of pre-emptive detention, punishing him without the need for a trial verdict.

Prolonged Proceedings and Acquittal

On 5 September 2022, Boudour, Chouicha, and Loukil were summoned to appear for investigation before the investigative judge of the Fifth Chamber of the Specialized Criminal Court, the Department of Combating Terrorism and Transnational Crime, at the Sidi M'hamed Court in Algiers. They appeared on 7 September 2022. The risk of pre-trial detention remained constant throughout the proceedings.

The case was postponed four times. Each postponement extended the period of uncertainty, surveillance, and professional paralysis. Finally, on 26 February 2025, the Criminal Court of Appeals of the Algiers Judicial Council acquitted Boudour and his co-defendants of all charges. The acquittal vindicated them, but it came after nearly four years of judicial harassment, restrictions on movement, and obstruction of their human rights work.

Pattern of Repression

Boudour's case is part of a systematic pattern of repression targeting Algerian human rights defenders, journalists, and activists associated with the Hirak movement. Terrorism laws have been weaponized to silence dissent. Judicial surveillance, travel bans, and prolonged pre-trial proceedings are used to isolate and incapacitate defenders without the need for conviction. The acquittal in Boudour's case underscores the baselessness of the charges, but the process itself achieved its objective: years of disruption, intimidation, and constraint.