The President of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebbounepardoned this Thursday 4,000 prisoners on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Revolution, celebrated on November 1st. The two presidential decrees concerned convicted in common law and public order cases. Several prisoners of conscience were thus released, including journalists. Omar Ferhat And Sofiane Ghirous of Scoop AlgeriaAnd Ihsane El Kadidirector of Radio-M And Emerging Maghreb.
After 22 months in prison, Ihsane El Kadi left El Harrach prison (Algiers) on Thursday where he has been detained since December 29, 2022. The 65-year-old journalist is doing well and sent his thanks to all those who spoke to him their solidarity. . Its two media outlets played a key role during the Hirak movement protests, which obtained the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2019.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) “welcomed” this pardon which she requested on several occasions. “It is with immense relief that we note the release of Ihsane El Kadi. This measure puts an end to ordeal of more than 23 months for this great journalist and his family,” announces Khaled Drareni, RSF representative in North Africa. The organization recalls in a press release that “he should never have been imprisoned”. Likewise, they hope that it will also be “a s“signal for the lifting of restrictions on press freedom. »
Kadi Ihsane was arrested on the night of December 24, 2022 at his home in Zemmouri, and placed in pre-trial detention at El Harrach prison on December 29 by an investigating judge from the Sidi M’hamed court in Algiers. He was sentenced to five years in prison (two on provisional release), although the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to seven years (two with parole), for receiving “funds and benefits from foreign sources for the purpose of political propaganda” And “having undermined the security of the State (…) and public order.” These are articles 95 and 95 bis of the Algerian Penal Code.
Furthermore, a controversial law on information punishes Algerian media that receive material aid or funding from abroad with criminal sanctions and fines exceeding 13,000 euros, their property can even be confiscated, as happened with Ihsane El Kadi. The court also ordered the dissolution of the company Interface Médias which publishes the two digital media and the seizure of its equipment.
However, “this accusation was not substantiated during the trial. It was in fact money sent by his daughter, who lives and works in Londonand is also a shareholder of Interface Médias, the company of Ihsane El Kadi, publisher of Radio-M And Emerging Maghrebwas intended to pay the salaries of employees,” explains Khaled Draneri.
“Imprisoned for his opinions”
His family has always denounced the fact that the journalist was “imprisoned for his opinions”. “His friends, his colleagues and all those who care about the advent of the rule of law in Algeria are no less shocked than us,” his family wrote in a public statement.
RSF He led a major international campaign in favor of the release of this journalist, “respected in Algeria and abroad for his independence and rectitude,” the journalist defended. Khaled Draneri. The organization notably contacted the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as well as the Coalition for Media Freedom. It also brought together 16 editorial leaders from 14 countries, including the Nobel Peace Prize winner. Dmitry Muratovto demand his release. The international petition launched by RSF in defense of Ihsane El Kadi, who has always fought for a free and independent Algerian press, has collected more than 20,000 signatures, the first 13,000 were submitted to the Algerian Embassy in Paris. This is the second most signed petition on the RSF platform after that of Julien Assange.
Likewise, on Thursday, digital journalists were released Scoop on AlgeriaOmar Ferhat and Sofiane Ghirous, in preventive detention since June 2024 for a video published in their media showing young Sahrawis complain of marginalization.
Indeed, since 2019, around twenty journalists were tried or persecuted by the authorities in Algeria, which ranks 136th out of 180 countries in the world press freedom rankings.
This popular measure to release prisoners of conscience is similar to the royal pardon of Mohamed VI in July on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his accession to the throne. Then, the King of Morocco also pardoned three imprisoned journalists, Omar Radi, Soleiman Raissouni And Taofik Bouachrineand freed five other colleagues from their sentence and trial.
Precisely, Morocco was largely absent from such a symbolic celebration in Algierswhich commemorates the start of the War of Independence in 1954, which lasted eight years, until Algeria gained its independence from France. In fact, the rest of the Maghreb countries have come together to talk about a “new Maghreb project”. Guests of honor included the Tunisian president, Kaïs Saïed; the Mauritanian counterpart, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani; the head of the presidential council of Libya, Mohamed Menfi; and the secretary general of the Polisario Front and president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), Brahim Ghali.
Algiers organized a big military parade accompanied by the national anthem, 70 cannon shots and military music. It is the second of its kind since President Abdelmadjid Tebboune came to power in December 2019. The first under his reign was celebrated on July 5, 2022, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of national independence, with an incredible deployment of weapons.
