(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the continuing harassment of independent journalists in Algeria after Mohamed Benchicou, the managing editor of the daily newspaper “Le Matin”, and Ali Dilem, a cartoonist with the daily “Liberté”, were arrested on 8 September 2003 and taken to Algiers central police station. The organisation demanded that efforts to intimidate those […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the continuing harassment of independent journalists in Algeria after Mohamed Benchicou, the managing editor of the daily newspaper “Le Matin”, and Ali Dilem, a cartoonist with the daily “Liberté”, were arrested on 8 September 2003 and taken to Algiers central police station.
The organisation demanded that efforts to intimidate those who dare to criticise or poke fun at the regime cease immediately and said it expected to see proper legal procedures strictly followed. RSF noted that in June President Abdelaziz Bouteflika presented himself as a press-freedom supporter before the European Parliament and said that “no media outlet or journalist has been persecuted in Algeria.”
Benchicou and Dilem had earlier defied three police summonses on grounds that journalists “do not have to submit their work for police inspection.” They told a press conference they would not obey any more summonses and would keep any explanations or arguments “for the courts alone.” Dilem said he had confidence in Algeria’s legal system.
