Algeria: Press boss Ihsane El Kadi sentenced to three years in prison

Ihsane El Kadi, director of the Maghreb Emergent news website and Radio M, with journalists from the Huffington Post, April 27, 2023. © FARAH ABADA / AFPTV

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

Algerian press boss Ihsane El Kadi, prosecuted for "foreign financing of his company", was sentenced on Sunday (April 2nd) to five years in prison, including three years in prison, announced the Sidi M'Hamed court in Algiers, which delivered its verdict in the presence of the accused. He was fined 700,000 dinars (about 4,800 euros).

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In addition to the prison sentence, the Sidi M'Hamed court pronounced the dissolution of the company Interface Médias, publisher of the two media directed by Ihsane El Kadi, the confiscation of all its seized property and ten million dinars fine (more than 68,000 euros) against his company. The company was also ordered to compensate the Audiovisual Regulatory Authority (Arav) to the tune of one million dinars (6,800 euros). "We will appeal this judgment within the required time, according to the prior agreement with our client," said Abdelghani Badi, one of the defense lawyers who boycotted the hearing.

Imprisoned since 29 December, Ihsane El Kadi was accused of "foreign financing of his company" under article 95 bis of the penal code. It provides for a prison sentence of five to seven years for "anyone who receives funds, a gift or a benefit ... to perform or incite acts likely to undermine the security of the State, the stability and normal functioning of its institutions, national unity and territorial integrity. The prosecutor's office had requested a five-year prison sentence, with a ban on working for the same period, against the leader of one of Algeria's last remaining independent media groups, which includes Radio M and the Maghreb Émergent news website.

Ihsane El Kadi is suspected of "having received sums of money and privileges from persons and organizations in the country and abroad in order to engage in activities likely to undermine the security of the State and its stability," the Court of Algiers said at the time.

International support

In early January, 16 media leaders from various countries, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, gathered by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), called for his release and the lifting of "unacceptable" obstacles to his media. The arrest of Ihsane El Kadi and the sealing of the media offices he heads sparked a wave of solidarity among his colleagues and human rights activists in Algeria and Europe. A petition launched by RSF for his release has garnered more than 10,000 signatures.

► Read also: Algeria: 2022, a "black year" for journalism

(

With AFP)

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  • Algeria
  • Justice
  • Freedom of the press
  • Journalism