As their efforts to help prevent further government oppression and censorship in Tunisia continue, rogue freedom-fighting group Anonymous has now set its sights on helping citizens in the North African nation of Algeria.
Late last week, Anonymous posted an appeal to the “free-thinking citizens of the world” to aid in their quest for “freedom and transparency” in Algeria and other countries around the world, and also posted “A Warning Message to the Algerian Government.”
“The Algerian government hereby declares itself an enemy of Anonymous and the people. Anonymous hears the cries for freedom from the Algerian people, and has decided to step up,” the press release at AnonNews.org reads. “We cannot, and will not remain silent while this injustice is being done. Anonymous will help them in this struggle against oppression. We believe the Algerian attempts at censorship and oppression are doomed to fail if each one of us takes up our individual responsibilities: For only we, the people, decide to make it so.”
In their warning to the Algerian government, Anonymous “demand[s] that the Algerian government stop any and all acts of suppression against its own citizens. The infiltration of disruptive policemen in the demonstration is not within the rights of a state and will not hide the unadorned truth of the dishonorable acts committed by this political regime. We will be paying close attention to the sequence of events in the march scheduled for the Saturday, January 22. It is a crying shame that the protests are not allowed. For each casualty of the repression, the Algerian government will pay a hundredfold”
And it turned out that Anonymous members had a lot to watch during those protests on Saturday. Reports by the Algerian government state that at least 19 people were injured during the march to stand up against the country’s ban on public gatherings, but an opposition party report states that as many as 40 injuries took place as police scuffled with participants.
"They indeed stopped us from marching, but politically, we have succeeded in breaking the wall of fear," said opposition party lawmaker Mohamed Khendek.
On Monday, Anonymous released a new YouTube video which contains their warning message and footage of the violence which took place during the demonstrations. It’s likely that the group’s next motion against the Algerian government includes a low orbit ion cannon.
Other area nations such as Yemen and Jordan may also soon be on the Anonymous radar. A report by the Los Angeles Times states that these countries have been inspired by citizen actions in Tunisia, and that when the sentiment changes in one country in this region, the rest seem to follow.
We’ll be following Anonymous’ involvement in these world events, and will be reporting as events take place.
