Algerian journalist handed six-month suspended prison sentence
On December 25, 2018, the Bab al-Oued court in Algiers sentenced Adlène Mellah, founder of online news outlets Dzair Presse and Algerie-Direct, to one year in prison on charges of “incitement of armed assembly” in response to his coverage of a gathering, according to news reports and his lawyer, Hassen Brahmi, who spoke to the…
Court in Algeria sentences blogger to 10 years in prison
New York, May 24, 2018–In a one-day trial today, a criminal court in Béjaïa sentenced Algerian blogger Marzoug Touati to 10 years in prison and fined him 50,000 Algerian dinar (US$427) for communicating with a foreign entity and inciting civil disobedience, Touati’s lawyer, Salah Dabouz, told CPJ. The conviction is related to Touati’s interview with…
CPJ urges Algeria’s Prime Minister to release freelance journalist and fixer Said Chitour
The Committee to Protect Journalists writes to Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia urging him to ask that his government drop the charges against and immediately release freelance journalist and fixer Said Chitour.
Algerian journalist faces treason charges
Washington, D.C., February 27, 2017–Algerian authorities should immediately drop all criminal charges against Marzoug Touati, an editor of the news website Al-Hogra, and release him without condition or delay, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Algerian security forces arrested Touati from his home in the coastal city of Béjaïa on January 18 and have…
TV station staff who produce satirical news shows arrested in Algeria
New York, June 27, 2016–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the arrest of two senior staff at a privately owned television station in Algeria on June 24. Mahdi bin Issa, the manager of KBC, and Riyadh Hartouf, a producer, face charges of falsifying permits and complicity in abuse of position, and were ordered…
Algerian minister threatens to revoke accreditation of foreign press
On March 12, 2015, Algerian Communications Minister Hamid Grine said in a press conference that authorities had the right to revoke the accreditation of foreign correspondents if the journalists engaged in insult or defamation, according to news reports.
In Algeria, editor sentenced to three years on blasphemy charges
On February 24, 2015, a court in the city of Oran sentenced Mohamed Sharki in absentia to three years and a fine of 200,000 Algerian dinars (US$2,000) on charges of blasphemy, according to news reports and the regional human rights group, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). The journalist, who appealed the sentence,…
Algerian journalist held for more than a year without charge
New York, November 14, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the imprisonment of Algerian journalist Abdelhai Abdessamia, who has been held since August 18, 2013. News of Abdessamia’s imprisonment was reported by his family in early November, according to news reports.