MIRA
MOKNACHE

Background and Work

Mira Moknache is a university professor and human rights activist who became publicly engaged with Algeria's Hirak movement, the mass protests that began in 2019 calling for political reform, dignity, and expanded civic freedoms. She advocated peacefully, contributing to online discussion and participating in public life with a clear belief: that expressing dissent should not lead to detention.

Women active in the Hirak have faced compounded repression, targeted both as political opponents and as women stepping outside restrictive social roles. Mira's case exemplifies this double exposure: repeated summons, police surveillance, and judicial harassment deployed not to address criminal conduct but to punish visibility.

The Arrest

On 4 July 2024, police in El-Kseur, Béjaïa province, summoned Mira for questioning. The interrogation centered on her political opinions and human rights advocacy posted online. Four days later, on 8 July, she was detained at the Béjaïa provincial security headquarters.

On 18 July 2024, Mira was transferred to Algiers and brought before an investigating judge at the Sidi M'hamed Court. The judge ordered her pre-trial detention on charges under Articles 87 bis 3 and 87 bis 4 of the Algerian Penal Code — provisions criminalizing the glorification and incitement of terrorism, and the use of information and communication technologies for terrorist purposes. These statutes are routinely applied to peaceful activists and critics of the state.

Detention and Separation

Mira has remained in pre-trial detention since July 2024. For nearly two years, she has been separated from her family, denied the everyday contact and emotional support that sustain those held in prolonged confinement. Her students lost continuity in their education. Her community lost a voice willing to speak openly.

The charges against her contain no allegation of violence, no claim of material support for armed groups, no evidence of incitement to criminal action. The basis of the prosecution is expression: opinions shared, critiques voiced, participation in civic debate. The terrorism framework has been repurposed to criminalize dissent.

Legal Proceedings

In January 2026, Mira was scheduled to face three separate criminal trials within a two-week span. On 15 January, she appeared before the Algiers Criminal Court of Appeal. On 22 January, she was tried before the Oran Criminal Court. On 29 January, she faced proceedings at the Criminal Court of First Instance in Dar El Beida, Algiers.

The clustering of trials creates procedural strain, limiting her ability to prepare a defence and compounding the pressure on both her and her legal counsel. The pattern reflects a broader judicial strategy: to exhaust defendants through repeated, overlapping proceedings rather than resolve cases expeditiously and fairly.

Violations and Context

Mira's case involves multiple due-process and human-rights violations. Her detention is arbitrary, founded on the exercise of freedoms protected under international law. The charges are vague, the proceedings protracted, and the cumulative effect punitive. Women activists in Algeria face particular vulnerability: judicial harassment intersects with social pressure and gender-based stigma, compounding the isolation and risk.

Her case is part of a wider crackdown on the Hirak movement and civil society in Algeria, where counterterrorism laws have been systematically misapplied to silence academics, journalists, and human rights defenders. Pre-trial detention is used not as a temporary safeguard but as punishment in itself, extending for years without trial or resolution.

What Is at Stake

Mira Moknache's rightful place is in the classroom, not in detention. Her prolonged confinement signals to every activist, every woman, every citizen who speaks: that dissent carries the cost of isolation, harassment, and the instrumentalization of the justice system. The state has an obligation to protect the right to express differing views, not to repress it. Her case demands independent monitoring, fair trial guarantees, and an immediate end to pre-trial detention imposed for peaceful activism.