Algeria: journalist Khaled Drareni sentenced to three years in prison

Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni carried by protesters after being briefly detained by police forces in Algiers on March 6, 2020. RYAD KRAMDI / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

The verdict, eagerly awaited by the defenders of freedoms, fell on Monday. The journalist has been in pre-trial detention since the end of March.

Publicity

Read more

“  Three years closed. We are surprised. The file is empty,  ”deplores Me Nouredine Benissad, a lawyer for the Algerian journalist's defense collective. Khaled Drareni runs the online news site Casbah Tribune. He is also correspondent in Algeria for the television channel Tv5MONDE and the NGO Reporter sans frontières.

On March 7, he was arrested in Algiers, while covering a demonstration of Hirak, the popular uprising that has shaken Algeria for more than a year. He was then accused of "  inciting an unarmed assembly  " and "  undermining national unity  ".

Charges that the journalist has always rejected, including during the hearing on Monday morning where he was tried at the same time as two members of Hirak, Samir Benlarbi and Slimane Hamitouche. He continues to ensure that he only did his "  job as a freelance journalist  ".

The announcement of the three-year sentence has caused a lot of reaction on social networks.

For Christophe Deloire, secretary general of the NGO Reporters Without Borders, "  this is clearly a matter of judicial persecution  " against the journalist.

For several months, the Algerian justice has increased the number of legal proceedings and convictions of Hirak activists and political opponents, as well as journalists and bloggers relaying the demands of the movement.

THREAD Algerian justice has just sentenced journalist Khaled Drareni to three years in prison. This decision lifts the heart and the mind with its arbitrary, absurd and violent character. #FreeKhaled #Freekhaleddrareni pic.twitter.com/oE3YB5wchB

  Christophe Deloire (@cdeloire) August 10, 2020

Newsletter Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Algeria
  • Media
  • Human rights