Algiers (AFP)
Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni, released on Friday after almost a year in detention, began his career as a featured TV presenter before becoming a symbol of the fight for press freedom in his country.
Released after a long day of waiting for his relatives, activists and fellow journalists gathered in front of the Koléa penitentiary center, west of Algiers, he appeared serene, in good shape, with a sanitary mask on his face.
"I thank all those who supported me and who supported the prisoners of conscience because your support is essential for all of us and it is the proof of our innocence", he reacted in a video relayed on the networks social.
On his release from prison, he made the V for victory with his fingers, a sign he has brandished in recent years in the face of intimidation from the authorities.
Born in Algiers on May 10, 1980 into a wealthy family, Khaled Drareni, athletic and charismatic in appearance, studied law and political science at the faculty of Ben Aknoun in Algiers, before starting a career as a journalist.
After a debut in the public media, Khaled Drareni was propelled as a featured presenter on private channels from 2013, notably thanks to his shows on Dzair TV and Echourouk TV.
The 40-year-old journalist was sentenced in mid-September to two years in prison for "inciting unarmed assembly" and "undermining national unity".
He appeared emaciated during his trial and there were concerns about his conditions of detention.
Khaled Drareni, single, has been threatened several times by the security services who criticized him for his proximity to the Hirak, the popular protest movement.
He was arrested in March 2020 in Algiers, on the sidelines of a demonstration.
But the journalist defends himself in court: "I only did my job".
He covered the Hirak marches from the start of the movement in February 2019, notably via his Twitter account, followed by hundreds of thousands of people, where he shared photos, slogans and statements live from the protest parades.
While legal proceedings are linked against him, journalists and human rights activists are mobilizing in Algeria, but also abroad to demand his immediate release.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune - the very one who allowed his release by decreeing a presidential pardon in favor of Hirak detainees - had suggested that Khaled Drareni was a spy in the service of foreign embassies, without ever citing his name.
"Free at last! After 11 months of arbitrary detention for exercising his profession, our correspondent in Algeria Khaled Drareni is regaining the freedom he should never have lost!" RSF reacted on Twitter.
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