Lounès Matoub
Lounès Matoub ( 24 January 1956 – 25 June 1998) was an Algerian singer, poet, and thinker who sparked an intellectual revolution, and mandole player who was an advocate of the Berbercause, human rights, and secularism in Algeria throughout his life.
Matoub was shunned and criticized by many Algerian Arabs for his secular, atheist politics, his militant advocacy of Berber rights and blasphemous rock songs, making him unpopular among both warring parties during the Algerian Civil War. His assassination, claimed by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), in unclear circumstances, provoked violent riots in Kabylia.
On 25 June 1998, at approximately 12:30 pm local time, Matoub’s car was stopped at a roadblock while he was driving along a mountainous road in eastern Algeria (Kabylia). The car was fired upon by masked gunmen, killing Matoub and wounding his wife, Nadia Matoub, and two sisters-in-law. Within hours, news of Matoub’s murder had spread throughout Kabylia and thousands of angry mourners gathered around the hospital where his body was taken. The crowd shouted “Pouvoir, Assassin”(“Government, Assassins”).