Paris (AFP)
A giant tarp bearing the effigy of Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni, sentenced in mid-September to two years in prison, was installed Thursday on the facade of a Parisian building by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which calls for his release. noted an AFP journalist.
This 300 m2 tarpaulin, the equivalent of "thirty prison cells", according to Christophe Deloire, general secretary of the NGO, was installed on the facade of a building in the 13th arrondissement of the capital.
"#FREEKHALED for press freedom in Algeria, free Khaled Drareni", is it written on this black tarpaulin with, in the background, the smiling face of the Algerian journalist.
Detained since March 29, Mr. Drareni, 40, was arrested after covering in March in Algiers a demonstration by the "Hirak", a peaceful protest movement born in February 2019 and demanding a change in the "system" in place since l independence in 1962.
He was sentenced on appeal on September 15 to two years in prison for "inciting unarmed assembly" and "undermining national unity".
"We are here today to tell the Algerian government that our mobilization is not weakening, on the contrary it is growing," Mr. Deloire told AFP, denouncing "a government which is waging a war of attrition against all. those who defend freedoms ".
"Khaled did nothing wrong, he only exercised his profession and for that, he finds himself today behind bars", lambasted the Franco-Algerian singer Souad Massi, present at the meeting. hurry.
"I am here to demand his release as well as that of all the prisoners of conscience in Algeria," she continued.
In the wake of his conviction in mid-September, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune accused the NGO of wanting to "destabilize" Algeria.
Khaled Drareni is the founder of the Casbah Tribune news site, and correspondent in Algeria for the French-speaking channel TV5 Monde and for Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Algeria is in 146th place (out of 180) in the 2020 world press freedom ranking established by RSF.
© 2020 AFP