Mohamed Tadjadit

Mohamed Tadjadit (; born 9 January 1994) is an Algerian poet and human rights activist. He came to prominence during the Hirak between 2019 and 2021 for his slam poetry critical of the Algerian government. Since 2019, Tadjadit has been arrested on at least nine occasions, and has been sentenced to custodial prison sentences in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025.

Early life Tadjadit was born in Bab El Oued and raised in the Casbah of Algiers. His came from a family of shahids originally from the village of Ihnouchene, near Azeffoun. He lived in the Casbah until 2018, when the building he was living in collapsed, following which he moved to the city's suburbs. Tadjadit left education at the age of 14 and worked various jobs, including as an umbrella and jewellery salesperson, a fisherman, and a tanner. When he was 22, Tadjadit attempted to emigrate to Europe, travelling to Turkey before being arrested in Greece and deported back to Algeria.

Activism On 16 February 2019 the Hirak began in Algeria, six days after the country's President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, announced his candidacy for a fifth presidential term. At the time, Tadjadit was working as a fruit seller in Algiers. He began taking part in poetry slams at various protests, performing in Darija, the vernacular form of Arabic spoken in the Maghreb. This gave Tadjadit rising prominence within the movement, with some giving him the moniker "the poet of the Hirak".

Arrests and trials

2019 arrest and imprisonment On 11 November 2019, during the Hirak, Tadjadit was arrested during a sit-in protest in solidarity with political prisoners held outside the Sidi M'Hamed court. On 14 November, a judge ordered his pre-trial detention for "exposing to public view publications likely to harm the national interest". On 19 December, Tadjadit was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was released on prison on 20 January 2020 following a presidential pardon, and on 12 March his sentence was reduced to a one-year suspended sentence. On 20 January, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment from the court in Rouïba, in addition to a fine of 200, 000 DZD.

Response Amnesty International described the Algerian authorities' "relentless targeting" of Tadjadit as confirmation of their continuing "repression of peaceful dissent". MENA Rights criticised the evidence used against Tadjadit during his trial, including his communication with members of Rachad, noting that the conversations between them occurred prior to Rachad being classified as a terrorist organisation by the Official Gazette on 27 February 2022. The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies similarly called for his immediate release and for authorities to end their judicial harassment of him.

Recognition In 2025, Tadjadit was nominated for Index on Censorship's Freedom of Expression Award for his poetry denouncing "repression, corruption, injustice, and the silencing of dissenting voices".