Algerian journalist Saad Bouakba, 79, was taken into pretrial detention on November 27, 2025, on charges of insulting national symbols and publishing false information, following a complaint over remarks he made in an interview on the YouTube-based channel Vision TV News.
Bouakba’s detention came after Mahdia Ben Bella, daughter of former President Ahmed Ben Bella, filed a complaint accusing the journalist of defaming her father by discussing the late leader’s alleged unlawful distribution of funds belonging to the National Liberation Front (FLN), which led the fight for independence from France during Algeria’s 1954 to 1962 war.
Prosecutors at the Bir Mourad Raïs Court charged Bouakba with insulting and defaming the symbols of the national liberation revolution and spreading false information online.
On December 4, 2025, the state prosecutor at the Bir Mourad Raïs Court convicted Bouakba of insulting national symbols and publishing false information, and issued a three-year suspended prison sentence and one million Algerian dinar fine (about $7600) against him. Bouakba was released from prison that day.
The court also sentenced Vision TV director to a one-year suspended sentence on the same charges as Bouakba, and ordered the closure of the channel.
Bouakba is one of Algeria’s most prominent columnists and has contributed to local independent news outlets including El-Khabar and Echorouk, a journalist familiar with the case told CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.
Bouakba had also been arrested in February 2023, after publishing a satirical opinion piece, held for two days, and placed under judicial supervision with his passport confiscated. Although a lower court sentenced him to six months in prison for “inciting hate” and “publishing material harmful to the national interest online,” the Algiers Court of Appeal overturned the prison term in 2024 and reduced the sentence to a 20,000 dinar ($150) fine, in line with Article 54 of the constitution, which bars imprisonment for press offenses.
CPJ’s email to the Ministry of Interior requesting comment did not receive a response.