The reactions denouncing the conviction of the Algerian journalist Ihsane El Kadi, do not weaken. According to Amnesty International, the Algerian authorities are taking extreme measures to stifle dissenting voices.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the NGO castigated the totalitarianism that plagues the country, noting that the Algerian authorities must release all journalists wrongfully detained, drop all politically charged charges against at least six of them and quash the journalist’s conviction.
The London-based organization has called for the release of journalist Ihsane El Kadi, who was sentenced on April 2 by the Sidi M’hamed court in Algiers to five years in prison, two of which were suspended, “on the basis of unfounded accusations related to receiving funds intended for political propaganda and undermining state security”.
“Ihsane El Kadi is just the latest journalist to be targeted by the Algerian authorities as part of their relentless offensive against independent media,” commented Amna Guellali, deputy director of the Middle East and South Africa program. Amnesty International North.
Over the past two years, Algerian authorities have prosecuted, arrested or detained at least 11 other journalists and media professionals, AI said, also condemning the closure of several independent media outlets.
As a reminder, El Kadi, director of the Algerian station Radio M and the news site Maghreb Emergent, was placed in pre-trial detention on December 29, after four days in police custody. Plainclothes security officers arrested him at his home before driving him in handcuffs to his media offices where they ordered staff to leave, seized computers and sealed doors.
Since then, the NGO has continued to denounce his “unjustified” incarceration, calling on the Algerian authorities to release him “immediately” and to authorize his two media to reopen their doors.