(IFJ/IFEX) – Yassir Ben Miloud, a columnist for the independent newspaper “El Watan”, who had been missing since 5 November 1997, reappeared late on 7 November. However, it is not known if he had been picked up and subsequently released or if he had disappeared voluntarily. Ben Miloud was not prepared to discuss it. **Updates […]
(IFJ/IFEX) – Yassir Ben Miloud, a columnist for the independent
newspaper “El Watan”, who had been missing since 5 November 1997,
reappeared late on 7 November. However, it is not known if he had
been picked up and subsequently released or if he had disappeared
voluntarily. Ben Miloud was not prepared to discuss it.
**Updates IFEX alert dated 7 November 1997**
Ben Miloud spent all of 8 November being interrogated by police,
only to be released at 23h that evening. At the same time, “El
Watan” publisher Omar Belhouchet, who was recently sentenced to
one year in prison for comments made on French television (see
IFEX alerts) and two editors at the newspaper were likewise
interrogated.
Background Information
According to an alert sourced to the Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ), Ben Miloud had last been seen by colleagues on
5 November while attending the trial of Belhouchet. Shortly after
the court reached its verdict, Belhouchet was summoned by police
and questioned for four hours about an opinion column published
in “El Watan” on 29 October. The column, written by Ben Miloud,
strongly criticised the Algerian government in the aftermath of
recent municipal elections (see IFEX alert).
