Mohad
Gasmi

Background and Work

Mohad Gasmi is an organiser and digital activist from Adrar Province in southern Algeria. He joined the Unemployed Movement, a grassroots network that demands social and economic justice for young people locked out of the formal labour market, and became a public advocate for youth rights in the region.

In 2015 he joined the anti-shale-gas-drilling movement in southern Algeria, which protested peacefully against the environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing. Residents feared that fracking would contaminate scarce groundwater and cause irreversible ecological harm in one of the country's most arid regions. The movement organised sit-ins, marches, and online campaigns throughout 2015 and 2016.

When the Hirak movement emerged in February 2019, calling for political and social reform across Algeria, Mohad Gasmi joined the mobilisations. He posted regularly on Facebook about unemployment, environmental destruction, and political accountability. His activism was primarily digital, using social media to document protests, share demands, and criticise state policy.

The Arrest

On 14 June 2020, the investigating judge of the court of Adrar placed Mohad Gasmi under arrest. The Public Prosecution charged him with praising terrorism, citing two Facebook posts he had published. He was placed in preventive detention in Adrar penal institution. He was not heard by the investigating judge until 18 November 2020, five months after his arrest.

Prolonged Pretrial Detention

Mohad Gasmi remained in pretrial detention for fifteen months. On 5 January 2021, the Indictment Chamber of Adrar ordered the transfer of his case to the Criminal Court of Adrar. By July 2021 he had been detained for more than a year without trial. On 5 July 2021 he began an open-ended hunger strike to protest the prolonged detention, the charges against him, and the transfer of his case to the Criminal Court.

A hearing was eventually scheduled for 13 October 2021, about sixteen months into his pretrial detention. At that hearing, the Criminal Court of Adrar requested additional information and ruled to continue investigating and gathering more details before reaching a verdict. It was expected that the trial would be rescheduled until the investigation concluded.

Verdicts and Sentences

Days later, on 17 October 2021, the Criminal Court of Adrar sentenced Mohad Gasmi to five years in prison on the charge of praising terrorism. The verdict came with no additional investigation and no further hearings.

On 14 April 2022, the same court sentenced him to three years in prison on a separate charge: sharing confidential information without the intent of treason and espionage. He was awaiting an appeal against the five-year sentence when the second sentence was handed down. On appeal in June 2022, the five-year sentence was reduced to three years in prison, one of them suspended.

Release

Mohad Gasmi served more than four years in detention. On 1 November 2024, Algerian authorities released him from prison under a presidential pardon issued in July 2024, which applied to 8,049 detainees.