The commander of the national gendarmerie, General Yahia Ali Ouelhadj, will have to answer for the incidents at the Douera stadium
Saturday, September 21, 2024, will be remembered as a dark day. While the people of Mouloudia d’Alger were preparing for a grand celebration to mark the inauguration of their new stadium, the event that was supposed to be highlighted by qualification for the group stage of the Champions League. A competition, it should be noted, that Mouloudia d’Alger was the first Maghreb club to win in 1976.
By Hichem ABOUD
All the ingredients were present for a great celebration. A brand-new stadium, an international competition, a team filled with stars ready to claim their first victory of the season, tifos that only the supporters of Mouloudia d’Alger know how to create, and a golden crowd. Nothing suggested that the celebration would turn into a nightmare. There is no excuse, no alibi, for in an instant, the thousands of supporters who had come to Ali Ammar stadium, known as Ali La Pointe, would sink into an unimaginable apocalyptic vision. Gendarmes greeted the supporters with batons and sticks. Blows rained down from everywhere for no reason. No one was spared. Not even a disabled person in a wheelchair.
The nightmare continued inside the stadium. After a 90-minute lull, the time it took for the match to play out, the gendarmes’ provocations resumed. A few minutes before the final whistle, and while the stadium was bathed in the joy of a two-nil victory, the gendarmes fired tear gas onto the pitch, targeting players from both teams. And as if to finish their dirty work, they unleashed their fury on the crowd. Clashes broke out between the spectators and the men of General Yahia Ali Ouelhadj. Their violence reflected their hatred for everything Algerian. Unprecedented.
What image did they present of Algeria to the Tunisian brothers?
Not content with subjecting Mouloudia supporters to horrendous violence, the Algerian gendarmes also attacked the officials and supporters of the host club, US Monastir. They, too, suffered from the tear gas and baton blows.
Algeria’s image was tarnished in just a few minutes, and Algerian-Tunisian brotherhood lost all its meaning under the blows of General Ouelhadj’s gendarmes.
What were the intentions of the head of the national gendarmerie?
Given the gravity of the situation, for which the gendarmes bear full responsibility, it is legitimate to question General Ouelhadj’s intentions in sending his troops to provoke Mouloudia’s supporters. Did the man have a plan to destabilize the president elected in the wake of the biggest electoral fraud, the day after his inauguration? Was there a plot carried out in concert with the deposed General Djebbar Mehenna? Had Ouelhadj sensed the imminent end of his reign at the head of the gendarmerie, prompting him to ignite the flames of a popular insurrection by targeting the fans of the country’s most popular club? So many questions deserve answers in light of the magnitude of the damage caused by his men. There were deaths and many injured. For no reason at all.
The gendarmes fire tear gas bombs onto the pitch:
Testimony of an Algerian gendarme:
The disabled man injured by the gendarmerie:
Protest by MCA supporters against the gendarmes after the violence they endured:
