El Harrach prison

April 3, 2025

Dear friends,

I am writing to you from a place that no one should be. A place where bodies are exhausted, souls struggle not to sink, a place that scars  forever those who spent an unwillingly time in.

But today, despite these walls,  injustice, I feel the need to write to you with a heart filled with gratitude.

Thank you. Thank you for your mobilization, your unwavering support, your loyalty for truth and justice. You have chosen to defend a right cause, and History will remember it.

I would like to tell you everything, put words on this unimaginable ordeal, tell you how much this situation is beyond comprehension. Throughout my trial, the evidence of my innocence was ignored, blatant irregularities swept away. My defense has demonstrated the injustice of accusations against me, but in vain.

The verdict was a shock. An earthquake for me, for my family, for all those who still believe in justice. Even today, it is impossible for me to accept the unacceptable.

I know why I’m here. I pay the price of my loyalty and my love for Algeria.

My only ambition when I returned back home was to serve my country in my own way. I wanted to give back to my team at heart (JSK) what it gave me–see it reborn, shine again, and through it, offer a little dream and hope to our youth.

Because the JSK is not just a team: it is a symbol, a legacy, a national pride. Few teams in the world occupy such a place in the hearts of their funs, like Barça or Bayern Munich.

On March 3rd, 2025, I started a hunger strike to denounce the injustice I am enduring. But today, my body has reached its limits. Exhaustion, concern of my parents, my wife, my children, your voices that reached me despite these walls… All this pushed me to suspend my hunger strike.

It’s not an abandonment. It is rather a repositioning in this fight that we are waging together.

So, please, continue. Continue to make my voice heard, our voice.
You are my strength, my hope, the proof that our people do not abandon its kids.
And one day, the truth will come out. Because, as Mouloud Mammeri said so well, “Truth is like oil, it always ends up rising to the surface.”

With all my gratitude, my strength and my faith in our fight.

Cherif Mellal

Nut n°297176