Algeria / Middle East & North Africa

  
Police officers are seen at El Harrach prison in Algiers, Algeria, on June 13, 2019. Freelance journalist Sofiane Merakchi was recently sent to the prison for pre-trial detention. (Reuters/Ramzi Boudina)

Algerian authorities arrest freelance journalist Sofiane Merakchi

Washington, D.C., September 27, 2019 — Algerian authorities should immediately release journalist Sofiane Merakchi and drop any charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A man holds a placard reading "no one can stop a people marching for his freedom" as Algerian protesters demonstrate in Algiers on July 26, 2019. Access to at least five independent local news websites has been interrupted in recent weeks amid the protests. (AFP)

More online news blocked as Algeria protests near 6 month mark

New York, August 14, 2019—Access to at least five independent local news websites has been interrupted in Algeria as protesters demand political reform for the fifth consecutive month.

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Demonstrators are seen in Algiers, Algeria, on May 17, 2019. Independent news websites Tout Sur l'Algérie and Algérie Part have been widely inaccessible in the country since June 12. (Reuters/Ramzi Boudina)

Two news websites inaccessible in Algeria amid protests, social media shutdowns

New York, June 17, 2019 — Independent news websites Tout Sur l’Algérie and Algérie Part have been widely inaccessible within Algeria since June 12, according to local journalists and news reports. The apparently targeted disruption took place amid anti-government protests that have been ongoing for nearly four months, and began shortly before several social media…

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Algerian journalists take part in a demonstration outside the headquarters of the country's national television broadcaster in Algiers on March 25, 2019. At least two journalists were recently suspended from the broadcaster. (AFP/Ryad Kramdi)

Algerian state broadcaster suspends two journalists amid reporters’ sit-ins

In April and May 2019, Algeria’s Public Establishment of Television, the state broadcaster, suspended at least two television journalists who sought to cover protests in the country, according to journalists who spoke to CPJ and news reports.

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Aymeric Vincenot, AFP's Algiers bureau chief, sits at his office on March 1, 2019. Vincenot was recently expelled from Algiers after authorities declined to renew his press permit. (AFP)

Algeria expels AFP bureau chief Aymeric Vincenot after accreditation expires

New York, April 16, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the expulsion of Aymeric Vincenot, the Agence France-Presse bureau chief in Algiers, and called on the Algerian government to facilitate press accreditation for foreign journalists.

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People protest in Algiers, Algeria, March 29, 2019. Two foreign reporters were recently expelled from the country. (Ramzi Boudina/Reuters)

Tunisian Reuters and TRT journalists detained, expelled during Algeria protests

New York, April 4, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the detention and expulsion of two Tunisian journalists from Algeria and called on Algerian authorities to allow the foreign press to freely cover demonstrations in the country.

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A woman carries a flag in front of police during a protest in Algiers on March 29. Amid weeks of unrest, Algerian journalists are staging their own demonstrations over censorship. (Reuters/Ramzi Boudina)

Barred from covering unrest, Algerian journalists hold own protests

In a Q&A with CPJ, Algerian journalist Lynda Abbou explains why protests that have swept the country in recent weeks were a pivotal moment for journalists frustrated at censorship.

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An Algerian man reads a newspaper in the capital, Algiers, on April 12, 2018. Adlène Mellah, founder of online news outlets Dzair Presse and Algerie-Direct, was recently handed a six-month suspended prison sentence in Algiers (Ryad Kramdi/AFP)

Algerian journalist handed six-month suspended prison sentence

On December 25, 2018, the Bab al-Oued court in Algiers sentenced Adlène Mellah, founder of online news outlets Dzair Presse and Algerie-Direct, to one year in prison on charges of “incitement of armed assembly” in response to his coverage of a gathering, according to news reports and his lawyer, Hassen Brahmi, who spoke to the…

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A guard opens the gates of a prison near Béjaïa in 2011. A court in the Algerian city sentenced a blogger to 10 years in prison. (AFP/Farouk Batiche)

Court in Algeria sentences blogger to 10 years in prison

New York, May 24, 2018–In a one-day trial today, a criminal court in Béjaïa sentenced Algerian blogger Marzoug Touati to 10 years in prison and fined him 50,000 Algerian dinar (US$427) for communicating with a foreign entity and inciting civil disobedience, Touati’s lawyer, Salah Dabouz, told CPJ. The conviction is related to Touati’s interview with…

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CPJ urges Algeria’s Prime Minister to release freelance journalist and fixer Said Chitour

The Committee to Protect Journalists writes to Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia urging him to ask that his government drop the charges against and immediately release freelance journalist and fixer Said Chitour.

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