|
|
|
|
Legal Action
April 14
Omar Belhouchet, El Watan, LEGAL ACTION
Belhouchet, the editor in chief of the independent daily El Watan, was summoned to the prosecutor's office and put under judicial supervision while being investigated on charges of libeling the brother of former prime minister Mokdad Sifi. For nearly a month, Belhouchet was forced to report to an examining magistrate once a week and was forbidden to leave the country. The charges against him cited an article published in El Watan on April 11, which alleged that Zoubir Sifi had been arrested for embezzling money from a state-owned com-pany.
July 3
Chawki Amari, La Tribune, IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION
Kheireddine Ameyar, La Tribune, LEGAL ACTION
Baya Gacemi, La Tribune, LEGAL ACTION
La Tribune, CENSORED
The offices of the independent French-language daily La Tribune were sealed because the paper published a political cartoon July 2 that depicted the Algerian flag in a satiric manner. On July 4, Amari, the cartoonist, was arrested in the early morning at his home in Algiers and charged with desecrating a national emblem. He was held at Serkadji prison for nearly a month. Ameyar, the paper's publisher, and Gacemi, the editor in chief, were placed under judicial supervision and ordered to appear before the court twice a week. In a July 11 letter to Algerian authorities, CPJ denounced Amari's arrest and the suspension of La Tribune, and called on the Algerian government to end press censorship. The case went to trial on July 20. On July 31, Gacemi was acquitted, and La Tribune was allowed to resume publication. But Amari received a three-year suspended prison sentence, and Ameyar was given a one-year suspended sentence. On Aug. 6, the public prosecutor of Algeria appealed the July 31 verdict that reopened the newspaper. On Sept. 3, the court ordered La Tribune closed for six months, upheld the suspended sentences of Amari and Ameyar, and convicted Gacemi, giving her a six-month suspended sentence.
For more information contact mideastweb@cpj.org