Algerian journalist Rabah Karèche was sentenced Thursday to one year in prison, including eight months, by the court in Tamanrasset in the south of the country. The Algerian power leads a repression against any critical voice in its southern provinces.
Journalist Rabah Karèche received a heavy sentence for writing an article about his region, Tamanrasset, in southern Algeria, where protests by residents have increased in recent months.
The inhabitants of southern Algeria rose up against their exclusion, the lack of investment in their region, the drought, the power cuts, and the rationing of drinking water that they can only use at specific times. of the day, in addition to the high level of unemployment.
The Algerian authorities are pursuing a harsh policy against journalists in the region to prevent them from rising up in the face of social disparities between the different regions. The Algerian South has always been a taboo subject in the press, especially since the inhabitants of these vast territories feel aggrieved by the Sahrawi separatists of Morocco who are granted privileges and sumptuous lifestyle.
The correspondent journalist for the newspaper Liberté Algérie was sentenced to one year in prison, including eight months fixed. On August 5, the prosecution requested a three-year prison sentence and a fine of 100,000 Algerian dinars (more than 6,500 dirhams).
For his last article for which he was indicted, the respected and experienced journalist had reported that the inhabitants of this region denounced “the expropriation of their lands” during a new territorial division decided by the authorities.
Rabah Karèche was imprisoned on April 19 after publishing the report of a protest movement by the Tuaregs, a local Berber minority, who denounced his marginalization at all levels.
He was prosecuted for several counts, in particular “administration of an electronic account devoted to the dissemination of information likely to cause segregation and hatred in the society”, “voluntary distribution of false information likely to attack the ‘public order’ and ‘use of various means to undermine national security and unity’.
“After being questioned by the judge and the public prosecutor on his + intentions + in particular through the publication of his articles, several witnesses, citizens including a former member of Tamanrasset, cited in the press reports of Rabah Karèche, dealing with demonstrations in the region, were called to the bar, ”said Liberté Algeria.
“They all affirmed having made the remarks reported by the journalist and testified to the professionalism of the correspondent of Freedom”, adds the newspaper indicating that the file against the journalist was “empty”.
The journalist was convicted under a new law put in place last year aimed at facilitating the jail of journalists and bloggers critical of the government. The Algerian president, who described the journalist as an “arsonist” in an interview with Le Point, also condemned another journalist before him, Khaled Drareni, by considering that he was not a journalist.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has launched a veritable witch hunt aimed at silencing the media and journalists. Since his controversial accession to power, under circumstances which have been strongly criticized by the press, the president has waged a fierce battle against any dissenting voice.
Thus, Hirak demonstrators, politicians, party leaders, associations and non-governmental organizations, have all been targeted in one way or another for accusations of “undermining sovereignty”, ” breach of public order ”,“ breach of state security ”and other serious charges.
The latest fact to date is that Algeria and France have signed a judicial cooperation agreement which will allow the extradition of criminals on the one hand and on the other. The agreement comes after President Tebboune classified two dissident organizations as “terrorists”, and the amendment of the Penal Code allowing citizens to be tried for their writings and publications on the internet.
According to Algerian journalists, these new outcomes, which also follow the blocking of the Internet and the censorship of several electronic media, are a new drift of authoritarian power that targets bloggers and journalist critical of power, installed abroad.
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