PRESS RELEASE: Spain Will Not Sacrifice Its Dignity for a Few Barrels of Oil. Since July 25, 2026, Ayoub Aïssiou has been detained in a center…
PRESS RELEASE
Spain will not sacrifice its dignity for a few barrels of oil
Since July 25, 2026, Ayoub Aïssiou has been detained in a detention center in Barcelona, awaiting extradition proceedings to Algeria. Yet this man has committed no crime. He is neither a terrorist nor a criminal, but a political target of the Algerian regime. His only “crime”? Daring to challenge, through his media activism and support for the democratic opposition, a system that crushes any dissenting voice.
A peaceful dissident, victim of a political vendetta
A resident of France since 2019 and traveling freely between France and Spain, Ayoub Aïssiou has never been harassed until now. The numerous international arrest warrants issued against him—like those targeting dozens of other Algerian dissidents abroad—have been systematically rejected by Interpol, precisely because of their eminently political nature. Yet, in a cynical move, the Algerian regime has exploited bilateral agreements with Spain to secure his arrest, capitalizing on an opportunistic diplomatic thaw.
This strategy is part of an ongoing policy of systematic repression. How can we forget that notoriously corrupt generals, such as Habib Chentouf and Ghali Belksir—respectively, the former head of the First Military Region in Spain and the former commander of the National Gendarmerie in France—enjoy total impunity despite military convictions for desertion, embezzlement of public funds, tax evasion, and money laundering? Or that Lotfi Nezzar, son of former Defense Minister Khaled Nezzar (himself sentenced in absentia to twenty years in prison for economic crimes), had his convictions for illegal currency transfers and money laundering simply wiped clean after his return to Algeria in December 2020?
The Algerian justice system—which Algerians ironically refer to as “telephone justice”—is nothing more than a tool in the service of the powerful. It cracks down on opponents while turning a blind eye to the crimes of men in uniform and their relatives.
Ayoub Aïssiou, the scapegoat of a regime on the ropes
The charges against Ayoub Aïssiou are completely without legal basis. They stem from a political vendetta orchestrated by the Tebboune-Chengriha duo, who have never forgiven this journalist for his support—via his television channel, Algeria One—of the rival candidate to Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the army’s official candidate, during the December 2019 presidential election.
The arbitrary shutdown of this channel and the seizure of its equipment were not enough: the regime, thirsting for revenge, went so far as to demand his extradition, even though he has never broken any law.
True to his democratic convictions, Ayoub Aïssiou reaffirmed his commitment during the September 2024 presidential election by throwing his support behind Saïda Neghza, the most determined opposition figure standing against the incumbent president. Today, she is serving a four-year prison sentence alongside three other candidates imprisoned for daring to challenge the regime.
Spain Faces a Historic Choice: Dignity or Complicity
That authoritarian regimes, known for their systematic human rights violations, are now turning to Spain—a respected state governed by the rule of law—to carry out their dirty work should outrage any democratic conscience. The Algerian government, which imprisons, tortures, and stifles fundamental freedoms, could not care less about the discredit it would bring upon Spain if it were to succeed. Once Ayoub Aïssiou is handed over, he will suffer the same fate as Guermit Bounouira, who was extradited by Turkey in July 2020 and is now being held in inhumane conditions after being sentenced to death (a sentence commuted to life imprisonment). And what has become of former gendarme Mohamed Abdallah, extradited on August 22, 2021, after suffering the most inhumane abuse? Or take the case of Mohamed Benhalima, extradited from Spain in March 2022, whose torture, sexual violence, prolonged isolation, and repeated beatings have been documented by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Al-Karama.
Extraditing Ayoub Aïssiou is condemning him to a slow death in the name of oil that Algeria threatens to withhold from Europe. It is selling out the honor of a country that prides itself on its values, for a few drops of black gold. It is inflicting needless and cruel suffering on his family—a heartbroken mother, a devastated father, a distraught wife, and young children who will grow up without understanding why their father was torn from them.
A solemn appeal to reason and justice
We appeal to the wisdom of the Catalan justice system, to the foresight of the Spanish people, and to Spain’s historical memory—a country that, in the past, has known how to resist the pressures of the darkest regimes. Algeria is not a reliable partner, much less an ally that respects human rights.
Its regime, repeatedly denounced by the European Parliament as a “rogue dictatorship,” deserves no leniency. Spain has a choice: to side with the perpetrators or with the victims. We ask it to choose dignity.
The Committee in Support of Ayoub Aïssiou
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