2 Algerian journalists arrested for publishing video showing businesswomen protesting

Algiers, Algeria — Algerian authorities arrested two journalists for posting a video showing businesswomen protesting their treatment at a government-sponsored event.

Journalists in Algeria have faced increasing repression since President Abdelmadjid Tebboune came to power four years ago, with possible long prison sentences on flimsy charges, experts say. Many media outlets have also closed due to rising legal fees.

Sofiane Ghirous and Ferhat Omar of the “Algerie Scoop” news website were arrested last week for spreading material that authorities said “constituted incitement and hate speech,” according to a statement from the National Committee for the Release of Detainees. a local vigilance group, on Saturday.

In the video, startup founders accused the government of “humiliating” them and treating them with “contempt” at an innovation event organized by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.

Ghirous is the editor-in-chief of Algerie Scoop (accredited by the government in 2021) and Omar is the website director.

Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders recently lowered Algeria in its freedom of expression index to 139 out of 180 in 2024, while denouncing the country’s “pressure on independent media and threats to arrest journalists.” .

In June, popular news website Radio M announced it would stop publishing due to “impossible conditions” while its editor, Ihsane El Kadi, serves a five-year prison sentence on charges that his media company accepted foreign funds for its coverage, which was often critical of the government.

Also over the weekend, authorities raided the Librairie Gouraya bookstore in the city of Bejaia, nearly 240 kilometers (149 miles) east of the capital, to prevent the sale of “Shared Kabylia,” where a signing was planned. books by its French author, Dominique. Martre Martre, the Algerian editor, and several others, including journalists and activists, were briefly detained.

In the book, Martre recounts his experiences teaching French in the mountainous region of Kabylia in the 1970s.

Those arrested were released later that night, lawyer Mokrane Ait Labri, whose journalist brother was among those arrested, told The Associated Press.

The crackdown on free speech comes as Algeria prepares for elections in September. Tebboune is likely to seek a second term as president.