Algeria: Attacks on journalists continue

Posted On 13 September 2021

Number of times this article was read : 75
From Shield & Alert:
Libya’s Abnormal New NormalNiger: More Russian Weapons and Military Instructors Land in NiameySenegal at the Center of Another Geopolitical FightMali: Al Qaeda attacks rebel convoy in the Ouagadou forestFrom a Russian Grain Export Onslaught to a Ban on French Cattle: Agricultural Trade Between France and Algeria in StandstillNiger and Algeria recall their ambassadors over undocumented migrantsSenegal: Disgraced President leaves office to find shelter in MarrakeshMorocco: Health workers go on strike, demand implementation of reformsAlgeria: President announces early election, no one knows whyAlgeria: Beware of forgery. New law seeks to reduce fraud and white collar crimeMorocco: Price of butane gas to increase by 25% in AprilUS-Niger relations face uncertainty, with Niamey’s pivot to RussiaBrief: Tunisia: The Lazy GovernorsAlgeria: Opposition leader Zoubida Assoul announces presidential bidAgriculture: Spanish farmers say Moroccan strawberries carry virus, as Morocco surpasses Spain as tomato supplier to EUBloody Sunday: The indiscriminate killing of Muslim and Catholic worshipers in Burkina FasoNiger and Mali up their anti-Western positions, lash out at France and USNiger: Two soldiers killed in insurgent attack in DiffaMali: Katiba Mecina insurgents raid military camp in Niono, repelledSenegal’s outgoing president prepares for disgraced exit
1230 issue: week ending 17 September 2021
(Photo: Journalists Mouloudj (left) and Bouras (right)):

An Algerian journalist and rights activist was taken into custody on Sunday facing a charge of “glorifying terrorism”, one of his lawyers said. Hassan Bouras was also charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation and “plotting against state security with the aim of changing the system of governance”, lawyer Abdelghani Badi told AFP. Bouras allegedly used “technical and media means to recruit  individuals against the authority of the state”, Badi said.

Bouras was arrested on September 6 in El Bayadh, some 500 kilometres (300 miles) southwest of the capital Algiers, and his home was searched for unknown reasons, according to the Algerian Human Rights League (LADDH). Bouras was sentenced to a year in prison in 2016 for “insulting a judge, a public forces member and a government body”.

At the time rights group Amnesty International said Bouras was a “prisoner of conscience”, stating that he was jailed over a video exposing corruption of local officials in El Bayadh. According to prisoners’ rights group CNLD, around 200 people are in jail in connection with the Hirak pro-democracy protest movement that has shaken the North African country sporadically since 2019, or over individual freedoms.

Also, Algerian authorities have arrested a journalist from a local French-language newspaper and searched his house, a rights group and one of his colleagues said Monday. “Mohamed Mouloudj, journalist at the Liberte daily, was arrested on Sunday and his house searched,” the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH) said on Facebook. “He is still in custody in Algiers.”

Mouloudj’s newspaper, where he has worked for a decade, did not immediately comment, but one of his colleagues confirmed the arrest. “He had already had run-ins with the security services, who took away his passport for months,” Ali Boukhlef said. “He had also been taken in for questioning several times.” Another Algerian journalist, Hassan Bouras, was arrested a week ago and formally placed in preventive detention on Sunday, accused of “glorifying terrorism” among other crimes, his lawyers said.

Algeria is ranked 146th out of 180 countries and territories on the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index. According to prisoners’ rights group CNLD, around 200 people are in jail in
connection with the Hirak pro-democracy protest movement that has shaken the North African country sporadically since 2019, or over individual freedoms.

AFP
Other Articles in this Week's Issue<< Egypt: Sisi hosts Israeli PM Naftali BennettEnvironment: Beach pollution in Tunisia >>
The North Africa Journal's WhatsApp Group
.

Most Recent Stories from the Region

Libya’s Abnormal New Normal

Libya’s Abnormal New Normal

By Arezki Daoud: Since 2011, Libya has been engulfed in a bloody civil war after the death of Muammar Gaddafi. Over the years, it was easy to identify the problem:  too many foreign regional players and global powers meddling in Libya’s affairs, explicitly or...

From a Russian Grain Export Onslaught to a Ban on French Cattle: Agricultural Trade Between France and Algeria in Standstill

From a Russian Grain Export Onslaught to a Ban on French Cattle: Agricultural Trade Between France and Algeria in Standstill

Agricultural trade between France and Algeria is experiencing challenges that are primarily affecting French exporters. From the onslaught of the Russian grain exports to Algeria, essentially displacing French exporters, to Algeria banning French cattle due to EHDV disease, not all is well between Algeria and France in the agricultural trade sector. The most affected parties in this situation are French producers and exporters, who are looking for new initiatives to fight back.

Written by The North Africa Journal

The North Africa Journal is a leading English-language publication focused on North Africa. The Journal covers primarily the Maghreb region and expands its general coverage to the Sahel, Egypt, and beyond, when events in those regions affect the broader North Africa geography. The Journal does not have any affiliation with any institution and has been independent since its founding in 1996. Our position is to always bring our best analysis of events affecting the region, and remain as neutral as humanly possible. Our coverage is not limited to one single topic, but ranges from economic and political affairs, to security, defense, social and environmental issues. We rely on our full staff analysts and editors to bring you best-in-class analysis. We also work with sister company MEA Risk LLC, to leverage the presence on the ground of a solid network of contributors and experts. Information on MEA Risk can be found at www.MEA-Risk.com.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This