Echorouk's Forum: Mafia behind Black Spring events turned into billionaires

The mafia behind the Black Spring events in Algeria represents now billionaires who themselves turned the Kabylian region into night clubs for women trafficking, according to representative of Aarouch (Berber-based citizens movement) Sadek Youssefi.

 “They were with us when we took the street to protest and when we asked for stopping the bloodshed, they became billionaires,” Sadek Youssefi told Echorouk Monday.According to Aarouch wing, the Kabylie is now a place where the mafia has invested the tension for years in turning it into night clubs.  

A call for a national meeting

 The wing of Aarouch called for a national meeting called “the truth meeting” which included all the movement’s wing. It was meant to end the Kabylie’s crisis for good.The representatives of Aarouch Movement consider that it is time now for unifying all the movement’s members after years since the black spring events.

For his part, the movement’s representative Aissa Aarab said problems in Kabylie were not different from the ones in other areas in Algeria. “However, residents’ sacrifices for social justice push to think of speeding up development movement and encouraging projects.”

He believes that the dialogue may involve other people from other provinces including Chlef and Oran (west of Algiers) where big protests have recently taken place.

The movement possesses evangelisation map in Algeria 

 Aissa Aarab said there were some attempts and manoeuvres to accuse the movements of being involved in evangelisation.“Some Algeria’s enemies or those who want to separate the Kabylie from the Algerian State and evangelists are trying to defeat Aarouch Movement. But they are no more than rare cases.” 

He added that what is happening in the Kabylie is an exploitation of crisis circumstances in the area by some sides. “They stick the evangelisation phenomenon to the Kabylie though it is spread in all Algeria.”

 Aarab mentioned that he has the evangelisation map in Algeria which covers all the country’s regions. According to him, media is overstating the evangelisation phenomenon in the region especially the foreign fierce campaign for certain purposes.    

After the Kabylie’s events which broke out in the spring of 2002, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika called for dialogue. He assigned the prime minister at that time Ali Benfliss to open a dialogue with Aarouch Movement.     

Why does not separatists’ leader go to jail?

 The position of Aarouch wing toward the so-called “separatists” led by Ferhat Mheni has been clear since the movement was set up. “Ferhat Mheni is not allowed to participate in marches organised by Arouch,” said Aissa Aarab. The wing’s representatives wonder why a separatist person like Ferhat is still free. 

“We like Ferhat as a singer but we wonder why he is still free while he is the separatists’ leader,” said the representative of Tizi Ouzou’s Arouch Sadek Youssefi. Aarouch wing’s representatives believe that the separatist movement is growing while Aarouch Movement is declining.“But it is nothing as the Kabylie with all its Tamazight identity and civilisation dimension have always been condemning the separatists.”   

Four death cases in the June 14’s protests still pending 

Aissa Aarab revealed that 4 files of protestors killed in the popular uprising on June 14th, 2001 are still held in the administration as they have not been recognised as victims of the events so far.