(FIJALGER/IFEX) – On Sunday 22 April 2001, over 100 journalists held a one hour demonstration in front of the National Popular Assembly (Assemblée populaire Nationale, APN, first house of parliament) to demand that members of parliament reject the proposed Penal Code defamation provision reforms. The demonstration was organised by the National Union of Journalists (Syndicat […]
(FIJALGER/IFEX) – On Sunday 22 April 2001, over 100 journalists held a one hour demonstration in front of the National Popular Assembly (Assemblée populaire Nationale, APN, first house of parliament) to demand that members of parliament reject the proposed Penal Code defamation provision reforms. The demonstration was organised by the National Union of Journalists (Syndicat National des Journalistes, SNJ).
Several members of parliament, lawyers and personalities known for their commitment to press freedom joined the journalists’ demonstration. Since the end of last week, many in the journalism profession have mobilised to defeat the government’s plans aimed at increasing penalties for defamation.
On Friday 20 April, about fifteen newspaper publishers issued a press release urging members of parliament to “reject this text, which is fundamentally negative for democracy in Algeria.” The publishers see the government’s move as “dangerous and perilous for the country.”
In a press release published on Saturday 21 April, the SNJ expressed the belief that “members of parliament carry a historic responsibility,” as they have every possibility to “stop this attempt to call the press to order.”
The High Council of Ethics, which is the regulatory body elected by journalists, believes that the government’s plans “seriously threaten press freedom, journalists and society.” The Council has urged legislators to reject “all references to the imprisonment of journalists,” define “the notions of contempt, insult and defamation with precision” and reduce the fines foreseen for such offences.
Moreover, several hundred journalists signed a petition in which they express their “concern about the government’s intention to muzzle the press and reestablish censorship” and call on members of parliament “to prove they are reasonable and responsible and take into account the longing for freedom and democracy of Algerian society as a whole.”
The FIJALGER recalls that the Penal Code amendments sought by the government provide for heavy prison sentences for insulting the president or a state body (one to three years) and fines of up to US$70,000.