Former editor of the daily Liberté sentenced to one year in prison

Reporters Without Borders condemned abusive use of the courts to silence independent journalists as the former editor of the daily Liberté, Farid Alilat was sentenced to one year in prison in his absence for defamation. Alilat was also fined 100,000 dinars (around 1,100 euros) by the public prosecutor at a court in Sidi-M'hamed, in Algiers. Cartoonist Ali Dilem was fined 50,000 dinars (about 560 euros), while Mustapha Hammush was acquittéd. Liberté was also fined 250,000 dinars (about 2 800 euros). "Algeria continues to use legal defamation procedures abusively to silence journalists who offend the government", said Reporters Without Borders. "President Abdelaziz Bouteflika appears to suffer from boundless over-sensitivity. Thanks to him the courts are hearing press cases every Tuesday." "We strongly condemn this judicial harassment of journalists and the use of prison sentences in defamation cases. We are also closely watching all the other trials that are going on, because as long as the amendments to the criminal code relating to defamation are not lifted, Algeria will continue to put journalists behind bars. "Two of them - Mohammed Benshicu and Ahmed Benaoum - have already paid the price for this repressive policy in less than a year", it added. Defence lawyer Khaled Burayu told Reporters Without Borders over the phone that "these decisions could however be described as lenient" and he wondered, "if the verdict could open the way to a new interpretation of press offences". On 10 May the prosecutor had called for 12 months in prison and a fine of 50,000 dinars against all three journalists for a series of cartoons and a column in 2003 considered as "offences against the head of state". The newspaper's editor Salim Tamani, also said, "I hope that the Algerian justice system is beginning to take a different view of defamation and satirical cartoons." Burayu had argued before the court that neither Dilem's drawings which he described as "works of art drawn from the cartoonist's daily life", nor Mustapha Hammush's column, which is a "commentary on daily events" could constitute an "offence" or "attack" on the president. The newspaper has said it will appeal. Other journalists sentenced to prison terms On 17 May, editor of the daily Le Soir d'Algérie, Fuad Bughanem and the cartoonist Hakim Laâlam were sentenced by a court in Algiers to two months in prison and fined 250,000 dinars (about 2,800 euros) for defamation. The newspaper was also fined the same amount. Journalists on the daily Le Matin, Abla Sherif and Hassan Zerruky, were sentenced on 20 April to two months in prison, Yussef Rezzug and Yasmin Ferrukhi, to three months. The same day, Mohamed Benshicou, who was already served a two-year prison sentence handed down on 14 June 2004, was sentenced to five months in prison. His request for release on health grounds was refused.