(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the immediate release of journalist Hassan Bourras, who was recently handed a two-year prison sentence for libel after reporting on corruption by local officials in the western part of the country. “This sentence, combined with Bourras’ five-year ban from the journalism profession, sets Algeria back by many years and […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the immediate release of journalist Hassan Bourras, who was recently handed a two-year prison sentence for libel after reporting on corruption by local officials in the western part of the country.
“This sentence, combined with Bourras’ five-year ban from the journalism profession, sets Algeria back by many years and once again demonstrates the power of vested interests in their efforts to stop the disclosure of their illegal activities,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. “Bourras is the victims of these bigshots, who think they are untouchable because they are far from the capital.”
“We are also appalled that news of this sentence did not appear on the front page of any national paper in Algeria, despite this being the most serious media prosecution case since the period when journalists were disappearing,” Ménard said. “This is the most severe punishment of a journalist since President Abdelaziz Bouteflika came to power in 1999.”
Bourras, a correspondent in the western town of El Bayadh for several papers, including the Oran-based regional paper “El Djazaïri” and the national daily “El Youm”, was sentenced by a court in El Bayadh on 6 November 2003. He was jailed in El Bayadh at first and was subsequently transferred to Saïda prison on 17 November. He has been on a hunger strike for the past few days.
The journalist was convicted following a complaint by the local prosecutor about two articles that appeared in “El Djazaïri”. One article said the prosecutor’s wife had forged a document in order to obtain a job and the other reported on illegal property dealings by prominent local people. Bourras has documented proof of his accusations and witnesses who back up his story.
Bourras is also the El Bayadh correspondent for the Algerian Human Rights League, which has formed a team of 10 lawyers to represent him at his appeal hearing, whose date has not yet been set.
He was previously given a six-month suspended jail sentence in January after the provincial branch of the National Organisation of Mujahideens accused him of libeling the organisation’s secretary’s son. He was also physically assaulted a few days after being sentenced.
