Algiers - (AFP) - The Council of State in Algeria confirmed on Thursday a decision of the Administrative Court issued in October 2021 to dissolve the "Youth Action Gathering" organization, whose role emerged during the popular movement in 2019 that removed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power.

The organization wrote on its Facebook page, "The State Council: The case of the Raj Association with the Ministry of Interior: Supporting the ruling issued by the Administrative Court, which requires the final dissolution of the National Youth Association."

The "RAJ" is an acronym for "Youth Action Gathering" in French.

The decision came a day after the fourth anniversary of the launch of the popular movement on February 22, 2019, which began to protest against Bouteflika's candidacy for a fifth term and developed through weekly marches for about a year to demand freedom and democracy.

In the first reaction, Amnesty International considered that "dissolving the association is a severe blow to the right to freedom of association guaranteed by the constitution," as it wrote in a tweet on Twitter.

Fathi Ghras, coordinator of the Social Democratic Movement Party (leftist), considered that by freezing the activity of his party, closing its offices, and dissolving the "Raj" association, "the regime is looking for a way out of its crisis to kill political life."

On October 13, the Administrative Court, based on a complaint from the Ministry of Interior, issued a decision to dissolve the "Raj" association. The organization appealed the decision to the Council of State, the highest judicial body in administrative courts, and its decisions are not subject to review.

The prosecutions against the youth association began with the imprisonment of its president, Abdel Wahhab Farsawi, for six months, on charges of "undermining the integrity and unity of the homeland" in 2020.

The same court had decided to dissolve the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights in September, in judicial procedures conducted in its absence, and based on a complaint filed by the Ministry of Interior in May 2022.

The League, which has been legally active since 1989, considered that "like other organizations and political parties, it pays the price for its struggle, like millions of Algerians, in the peaceful movement for democracy, freedoms and human rights."