New York: CPJ calls for immediate release of Algerian journalist Ihsane el-Kadi

The Committee to Protect Journalists joins several other international organizations in denouncing Algerian authorities for extending the prison sentence against journalist Ihsane el-Kadi, calling for his immediate release.

On Sunday, June 18, an appeals court in Algiers increased from five to seven years a sentence for el-Kadi, editor-in-chief and director of local independent broadcaster Radio M and news website Maghreb Emergent.

The verdict was issued after el-Kadi appealed an April 2 decision sentencing him to five years in prison, two years of which were suspended, for allegedly receiving illegal foreign funding.

“Algerian authorities’ decision to increase journalist Ihsane el-Kadi’s prison sentence on appeal is a slap in the face to those seeking justice within the country’s legal system,” said CPJ MENA Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour.

“Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release el-Kadi, drop all charges against him, and ensure that journalists can work without fear of imprisonment,” he stressed.

On May 11, the European Parliament adopted a resolution highlighting el-Kadi’s case and calling for his release. He was arrested on December 24, 2022, one day after he discussed the likelihood of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune serving a second term in an episode of his radio program CPP on Radio M.

French NGO “Reporters Without Borders” has also condemned the increased sentence against the Algerian journalist, saying, his conviction “is surreal. It is the product of judicial harassment against a journalist who fought to freely exercise his profession in a context of generalized political lockdown.”

For its part, Amnesty International decried the ruling, saying that “El Kadi’s unjustified detention by the Algerian authorities… is yet another example of their ruthless campaign to silence voices of dissent through arbitrary detention and the closure of media outlets.

Since the start of the popular Hirak protests in 2019, the situation of media freedom has taken a substantial turn for the worse in Algeria, with the authorities blocking more news sites and publications critical of the government, the human rights watchdogs deplore.

Algeria has fallen two places in Reporter Sans Frontières’ latest World Press Freedom Index and is now ranked 136th out of 180 countries.