(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the Algerian authorities’ decision to ban the March issue of “Afrique Magazine” and urged them to reverse the decision. The banned issue carried a report on political disappearances in Algeria in the 1990s. “Afrique Magazine” is published by the Jeune Afrique-l’Intelligent group. “We fear this ban is only the first […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the Algerian authorities’ decision to ban the March issue of “Afrique Magazine” and urged them to reverse the decision. The banned issue carried a report on political disappearances in Algeria in the 1990s. “Afrique Magazine” is published by the Jeune Afrique-l’Intelligent group.
“We fear this ban is only the first of a new wave,” RSF said. “While the national media subjected to countless prosecutions and heavy fines that put them in financial straits, the foreign media is having to confront distribution delays and difficulties in accrediting their correspondents.”
Noting that this is the first time that “Afrique Magazine” has been banned since Abdelaziz Bouteflika became president, the organisation said it was, nonetheless, not the first time a foreign publication or broadcast media outlet has been censored in this fashion.
“At least five [media outlets] were banned in 2004,” RSF said. “The Qatar-based television news network Al-Jazeera and the newspapers ‘France Soir’, ‘Le Figaro’, ‘Le Monde diplomatique’ and ‘Jeune Afrique- L’intelligent’ all suffered the same fate for covering Algerian issues. We firmly condemn this ban and call on the authorities to rescind it.”
“Afrique Magazine”‘s distributor in Algiers, ADP, said the Communications Ministry notified it by telephone that the March issue could not be distributed anywhere inside Algeria. No reason was given for the ban.
In an 8 March statement, “Afrique Magazine” management said, “Beyond the commercial hardship [it imposes, we deeply regret] this development in a country which had become one of the rare examples of press freedom in the Arab world.”
Meanwhile, on 8 March, a court in the Sidi M’hamed district of Algiers found “Le Soir d’Algérie” newspaper guilty of libelling a Banque de Développement Local (BDL) executive in a 2001 report on alleged corruption at the bank. The court fined the paper 1 million dinars (approx. $US14,125; 10,500 euros) and imposed a two-month suspended prison sentence on its managing editor, Fouad Boughanem.
“We welcome the court’s decision to ignore the prosecutor’s request for the newspaper to be suspended for six months,” RSF said. “But we firmly condemn the practice of imposing prison sentences in libel cases and we call on the Algerian authorities to amend the Criminal Code and decriminalise press offences.”
On 25 January, the prosecutor had requested a six-month suspended prison sentence for the journalist who wrote the article, in addition to a fine of 50,000 dinars (approx. $US700; 520 euros) and a six-month suspension of the paper.
