'They follow us everywhere': Canadian citizens accuse Algeria of spying, intimidation at home

Kamal Sehaki thought he could finally live freely when he moved to Canada in 2018.

The Kabyles are part of the larger Amazigh or Berber family of Indigenous North Africans. They have their own language and culture, and some advocate for the creation of an independent state in a mountainous coastal region of northern Algeria.

Sehaki, a 36-year-old artist, learned the hard way that anyone associated with this independence movement risks reprisal from the Algerian government.

“I received a call recently from a member of the Algerian consulate in Montreal,” he said.

Sehaki, winner of international awards for his short films, said the man suggested the Algerian government could help boost Sehaki’s career and offered him an appointment at the consulate.

Instead, the conversation revolved around his links to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK). The MAK’s Canadian chapter has organized demonstrations in Montreal and Ottawa to demand the release of political prisoners in Algeria.