(CALP/IFEX) – Following its adoption by the two houses of parliament, the Penal Code defamation provision reform was signed by the president and published in the official gazette dated 27 June 2001. The new clauses have thus gone into effect. They have been characterised as repressive and extremely dangerous for press freedom by all Algerian […]
(CALP/IFEX) – Following its adoption by the two houses of parliament, the Penal Code defamation provision reform was signed by the president and published in the official gazette dated 27 June 2001. The new clauses have thus gone into effect. They have been characterised as repressive and extremely dangerous for press freedom by all Algerian media professionals.
Of the new clauses, one of the most damaging is Article 144 (b), which sets forth that “any person who offends the president of the republic, through the use of an offensive, insulting or defamatory term, be it in written form or drawings, be it orally, in an image, or via electronic, informatic or other support, is punishable by a prison term ranging from three to twelve months and/or a fine of 50,000 to 250,000 Algerian dinars (approx. US$650 to 3,200).
Article 144 (b)(1) specifies that if the “insult” originates in a publication, regardless of its periodicity, legal proceedings will be launched against the author of the article, those in charge of the publication and, for the first time in Algerian law, against the publication itself. In addition to the prison terms and fines to which journalists are subject, the publication itself is also liable to a fine of 500,000 to 2,500,000 Algerian dinars (approx. US$6,500 to 32,000).
Legal proceedings are “automatically launched by the Public Prosecutor’s Office,” which means that the president does not have to file a complaint to institute a criminal law procedure.
Article 144 (b)(2) provides for “imprisonment of three to five years and/or a fine ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 Algerian dinars (approx. US$650 to 1,300) to whomever insults the prophet and the messengers of God or denigrates the dogma or precepts of Islam, be it via writings, drawings, statements or any other means.”
Article 146 stipulates that “affronts, insults or defamation … towards Parliament or one of its two Houses, the Courts and the Tribunals or towards the National Popular Army or any constituent body or other public institution, are punishable by the same sentences provided for in the preceding articles.”
