New York, October 4, 2024—Algerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Djelfa Tribune editor-in-chief Badreddine Guermat, who was arrested on September 25 at home in the city of Djelfa, south of Algiers, following a Facebook post alleging government mismanagement, and charged with “insulting a state institution,” said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday.
“The Algerian government continues its relentless attempts to silence independent journalism,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, in New York. “Authorities must end their harassment of press members critical of the regime and free Badreddine Guermat and drop the charges against him.”
A court ordered Guermat’s detention pending trial, which is scheduled to begin October 7, according to local news report, and a statement by the local rights group, SHOAA for Human Right.
In a separate incident on August 1, authorities arrested journalist Merzoug Touati from his home in the city of Béjaïa, northeastern Algeria, in connection with his Facebook posts about the war on Gaza, and released him on August 5 after placing him under judicial control to be able to legally summon him for questioning at will, according to news reports. Touati was previously arrested in 2017 and sentenced to seven years in prison for espionage after interviewing an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson. He was released in 2019 after his sentence was reduced, but he has been arrested and released multiple times since then.
President Abdelmajid Tebboune was reelected for a second presidential term in September, leading rights groups to warn of an increasingly authoritarian climate with restrictions on political opposition, civil society, and independent media, alongside arbitrary arrests.
CPJ emailed the Algerian Ministry of Interior for comment about Guermat and Touati, but did not receive any response.