The Algerian Embassy in Moscow organized, on Thursday, October 17, 2024, a memorial event on the occasion of the National Day of emigration, headed by His Excellency Mr. Boumediene Guennad, the Algerian Ambassador to the Russian Federation, and attended by members of the Embassy, the military office and some members of the national community residing in Russia. During this occasion, the national flag was raised, the national anthem "Qassaman" was played, Surah Al-Fatihah was recited and prayers were made on the souls of the righteous martyrs.
In the speech he delivered on the occasion, Ambassador Boumediene mentioned the suffering experienced by a large number of the Algerian expatriates on October 17, 1961, who were part of a peaceful march to confirm their support for the National Liberation Front, its activities and struggle to liberate Algeria and restore its national sovereignty, due to the brutality and arrogance of the French police forces who committed a massacre against unarmed Algerians, who were devoid of the means of response and self-defense, given that the National Liberation Front’s call to participate in the demonstration stressed the need to avoid carrying weapons or anything that could be considered a white weapon. The French police forces, led by the butcher Maurice Papon, killed and wounded hundreds of peaceful Algerian demonstrators and arrested thousands of them, including a thousand prisoners who were exiled to their homeland, where the French military authorities waited for them to imprison and torture them. The Algerian Ambassador also referred to the enraged French campaign fueled by some racist circles against Algeria and the proud Algerian people recently, stressing that Algeria is undertaking a developmental renaissance that arouses the admiration of both its friends and enemies, what was not accepted by these French circles, who still yearn for the colonial era, which has gone forever.