Jamila
Loukil

Background and Work

Jamila Loukil is a journalist and a member of the Algerian League for Human Rights (Ligue Algérienne pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme, LADDH), one of the country's oldest independent human rights organizations. Her reporting focused on the Hirak protest movement, which began in February 2019 as a sustained campaign of peaceful demonstrations calling for democratic change, an end to corruption, and the resignation of long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. She worked in Oran, Algeria's second-largest city, documenting demonstrations and the experiences of activists. She retired from journalism in May 2022.

She was arrested several times during the Hirak: on 22 November 2019 at a presidential campaign rally in Oran, after which she was prosecuted for unauthorised gathering and later acquitted; on 8 October 2020 at a sit-in denouncing the killing of a woman; on 4 April 2021 at a solidarity sit-in; and on 28 April 2021, without a warrant, as she left the Oran Court of Appeal with her husband, Kaddour Chouicha.

The Hirak brought millions of Algerians into the streets each week. After Bouteflika stepped down in April 2019, demonstrations continued, demanding deeper structural reform. Authorities responded with waves of arrests, targeting activists, journalists, and defenders who documented state abuses or voiced dissent.

The Charges

On 29 April 2021, the Public Prosecutor of Oran charged Jamila Loukil, Said Boudour, Kaddour Chouicha, and twelve other Hirak activists with "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." She was released on bail the same day. The terrorism charge carried a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison.

The charges linked peaceful activism to terrorism, a tactic increasingly used against Hirak defenders. Algerian civil society documented a surge in arbitrary arrests and prosecutions following legislative elections in June 2021, as authorities sought to suppress opposition and consolidate control.

Transfer to National Jurisdiction

On 17 September 2021, the investigative judge in Oran transferred the cases of Loukil, Boudour, and Chouicha to the anti-terrorism and cross-border division of the Sidi Mohammed court in Algiers. The transfer moved the case from regional to national jurisdiction and placed it under a specialized anti-terrorism chamber. It remained unclear whether the new investigative judge would restart proceedings or rely on earlier decisions.

The transfer heightened the risk of pretrial detention and prolonged judicial proceedings. Said Boudour was placed under judicial surveillance, while Kaddour Chouicha was subjected to a travel ban. Loukil faced the prospect of lengthy pretrial detention if the investigative judge ordered it.

Summons and Investigation

On 5 September 2022, Loukil was summoned to appear for investigation on 7 September 2022 at 9:30 am before the investigative judge of the Fifth Chamber of the Specialized Criminal Court. The summons placed her at renewed risk of detention. She appeared before the judge at the Sidi M'hamed Court in Algiers. The investigation proceeded under the anti-terrorism framework. On 8 November 2022 the investigating judge requested the dismissal of all charges, but the prosecutor objected.

In August 2022 her husband was stopped at Oran airport on his way to a UPR Info pre-session on Algeria in Geneva, and she refused to travel without him. The UN Secretary-General's reports on reprisals against people who cooperate with the UN named her in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Acquittal

On 3 December 2023, the Dar El Beida court acquitted her at first instance. On 26 February 2025, the Criminal Court of Appeals of the Algiers Judicial Council acquitted Jamila Loukil, Said Boudour, and Kaddour Chouicha of all charges. The verdict had been postponed four times. The acquittal came nearly four years after the initial charges were filed, during which Loukil remained under the threat of a twenty-year prison sentence for her journalism and human rights work.