Alban Liechti, born April 24, 1935 in the 15th arrondissement of Paris and died August 29, 2024, is a French community activist, known for having been imprisoned for four years during the Algerian War after refusing to obey.

He is the eldest of nine children. He is part of a family of communist activists, with a father involved in the resistance, with the FTP. In 1948, he began selling L'Humanité and contributed, two years later, to getting people to sign the Stockholm appeal for the absolute banning of atomic weapons. He joined the Union of Republican Youth of France in 1950, and became its secretary4. He campaigned against the Indochina War and took part in several demonstrations, including that of May 28, 1952 against the visit to Paris of General Ridgway, during which he was injured and hospitalized, that of June 19, 1953 against the execution of the Rosenbergs, and that of July 14, 1953, which ended in a massacre.

Alban Liechti was assigned to the 5th Engineer Regiment (5e RG) in March 19564. As his mobilization in Algeria approached, he sent a letter to President René Coty on July 2, 1956, explaining his refusal to participate in the war:

"I have followed military training carefully. I have voluntarily followed the platoon. I am ready to fight anyone who attacks my homeland. I want to be faithful to the French traditions of fighting for freedom and justice. [...] In this war, it is the Algerians who are defending their women, their children, their homeland, it is the Algerians who are fighting for peace and justice. It is the friendship between French and Algerians that I want to defend. It is also the French Constitution that I respect since it is stated in its preamble: "The French Republic will not undertake any war of conquest and will never use its forces against the freedom of any people"... And further: "Faithful to its traditional mission, France intends to lead the peoples for whom it has taken charge to the freedom to administer themselves and to democratically manage their own affairs"... It is for these two reasons that I cannot take up arms against the Algerian people fighting for their independence."

He also campaigned within his regiment and convinced 30 of his 35 regimental comrades to sign a petition for a ceasefire. Alban Liechti was, however, mobilized in Algeria on July 5, 1956.

He refused to take his weapon in Algiers, leading to his hair being shaved and being held incommunicado in a military prison in Tizi Ouzou, where he could not write or receive mail, from July 6 to 16. Transferred to the 228th Infantry Battalion, he again refused to obey and was sent to the regimental prison in Oued Aïssi, in a real "rabbit hut", from July 16 to 28. That day, he was transferred to the regimental prison of Fort-National (Larbaâ Nath Irathen), where he was incarcerated in much less harsh conditions until September 4. From garbage duty, he was able to leave the city walls to go to the dump. He was also incarcerated on October 8 of the same year.

He was sentenced for refusal to obey to two years in prison by the criminal court of the armed forces of Algiers. He then received little support. He applied for parole twice, without success, and was released on September 20, 1958. He was assigned to the 11th Alpine Chasseurs Battalion (BCA) in Barcelonnette. On February 16, 1959, his company commander announced to him that the decision had been made to send him to Algeria a second time. Given an eight-day leave, he used it to prepare his second refusal, which he made public during a public meeting and then in a letter he sent to the President of the Republic, Charles de Gaulle, on March 3:

"Concerned about the honor of France, conscious of serving the true interests of my Country, I renew my refusal to go to Algeria and I inform you that at the end of my leave, I will not rejoin my corps, but will remain at the disposal of the military authorities at the Grande Ecuries barracks on Place d'Armes in Versailles, where I live."

On March 7, a military plane took him to Marseille for boarding. Arriving on the other side of the Mediterranean, he once again refused to bear arms and was incarcerated in the military prison of the Orléans barracks, then in the Algiers penitentiary center (CPA), awaiting his trial, which was postponed from May 12 to 26 due to the commemorations of the events of May 13, 1958. Defended by Gaston Amblard and René-William Thorp, "the greatest lawyer in Paris at the time", he was once again sentenced to two years in prison, although three of the five military judges refused to vote for the sentence. While the other refusing soldiers were transferred to metropolitan France in June 1959, he remained incarcerated in the CPA until August. It was for fear that he would develop the tuberculosis that he was finally sent back to Marseille. During his transfer, he was handcuffed with a moudjahida (Zohra Drif according to Le Maitron, Louisette Ighilahriz according to her own statements). In October 1959, Alban Liechti and the other incarcerated refusal soldiers were transferred from the Baumettes prison to the Casabianda camp, which benefited from a more open regime. However, they were subjected to agricultural work and three counts per day.

His first child was born on October 13, 1959, while he was still in prison. Released and assigned to Bordj l'Agha, he agreed to carry a weapon, but only if it was not loaded. Under the mobilization of his wife and a campaign led by the Secours populaire, he obtained two permissions in 1961. Their second child was born on February 19, 1962; Alban Liechti was released from his military obligations in March of the same year, at the age of 27.

He was granted amnesty in 1966. He then worked as a gardener in the city of Trappes. He participated in the founding of the association of fighters for the anti-colonial cause in 1986. He retired in 1995. He published a book of memories in 2005: Le Refus (published by Le Temps des cerises), with a foreword by the historian Alain Ruscio.

He was buried on September 4 in plot 2 of the Parc de Trappes cemetery. More than 200 people attended his funeral, including the mayor of the city, Ali Rabeh, and the president of Agir contre le colonialisme aujourd'hui (ACCA), Nils Andersson, who each gave a speech.

https://data.bnf.fr/fr/14051130/olivier_alban_liechti/