Algeria: Amnesty International denounces attacks on independent journalists, “Many of whom have already been arrested on unfounded charges”

ROME – Amnesty International demanded the release of journalist Ihsane El Kadi, sentenced on 2 April by the Sidi M’hamed Tribunal in Algiers to five years in prison on charges of making political propaganda and damaging state security. Shortly before his arrest on December 24, Ihsane El Kadi had published an analysis of the presidential elections in Algeria in 2024, maintaining a critical position towards the role of the army.

Amnesty’s position. “Ihsane El Kadi is just the latest journalist targeted by the Algerian authorities in their relentless assault on independent media. The authorities are taking extreme measures to stifle critical voices, even though Algeria’s constitution protects freedom of expression and freedom of the press,” said Amna Guellali, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa. In recent months, a court sentenced an Algerian journalist to death in absentia on spying charges and at least five others were tried on unsubstantiated charges, most of which related to spreading fake news. Authorities also shut down at least three independent media stations for allegedly broadcasting and publishing without permission.

The story of El Kadi. Plainclothes public security officials arrested El Kadi shortly after midnight on 24 December at his home in Zemmouri, a coastal city 40 km east of Algiers, and later that day took him in handcuffs to the offices of the its online media Radio M And Maghreb Emergent. They ordered staff to leave, confiscated computers and other equipment, and sealed the doors. The Sidi M’hamed court suspended two of the five-year sentence, accompanied by a fine of 700,000 Algerian dinars, which corresponds to approximately $5,156. The arrest of Ihsane El-Kadi and the closure of the offices he headed sparked a wave of solidarity among his colleagues and human rights activists both in Algeria and in Europe.

The appeal of Reporters without Borders. A petition launched by the organization to obtain the release of El-Kadi has already collected more than ten thousand signatures. In early January, sixteen media representatives from around the world, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dimitri Muratov, gathered from Reporters Without Borderscalled for his immediate release and the removal of unacceptable obstacles placed on his media.

Attack on independent journalists. Over the past two years, the Algerian authorities have prosecuted, arrested and detained at least eleven other journalists and media workers. In one of the most serious cases, in October 2022, an Algiers court sentenced journalist Abdou Semmar to death on charges of espionage and “dissemination of false information that could harm national security or public order”, in report to its online journals Algeria leaves. The court sentenced Semmar, who lives as a refugee in France, in absentia and without legal representation. After convicting Semmar, the judge issued an international arrest warrant against him. Semmar, who did not have access to the file, believes the allegations stem from a 2020 investigation he conducted into Sonatrach, the national oil and gas company.

Seizure of phones and unfounded accusations. On February 7, 2023, a court in Boumerdes sentenced Farid Herbi, journalist and founder of the online media Tout sur Boumerdes, to three years in prison and a fine for “dissemination of false information that could damage national security or public order”. Herbi had criticized the governor’s way of managing development projects in Boumerdes province in eastern Algeria. On February 8, officers arrested Mustapha Bendjamaa, editor-in-chief of The Provincials, an independent Algerian newspaper, accused of “receiving foreign funds”, for money it had obtained to help the family of a detainee, and “publication of confidential documents”. The latter accusation is based solely on private conversations recorded on his phone, which was confiscated by the authorities after his arrest.

The new press law. Meanwhile, the country is preparing to promulgate a new law on the press, already approved by the Assembly and waiting to be examined by the Senate. The new text introduces new limits to the work of journalists, in a context that – denounces Amnesty – is already bad for freedom of the press. In particular, the new law obliges the press to declare the extent and exclusivity of the share capital, the origin of the funds that are invested and the funds necessary for the operation of the newspaper or any other type of media. Heavy fines are foreseen for any media that receives external or foreign material aid, as well as increasing fines in the event of contempt committed by journalists against foreign heads of state or members of embassies and consulates accredited in Algeria.