Government lets courts silence the press

Reporters Without Borders voiced outrage today at government indifference in the face of a series of harsh court decisions affecting newspapers in recent months, including the prison sentences, heavy fines and the suspension of a newspaper requested or imposed in various cases heard by a court in the Sidi M'hamed district of Algiers on 25 January. The press freedom organisation said it roundly condemned the application of prison sentences in libel cases and called for press offences to be decriminalized by means of a reform of the criminal code, of which article 144 makes insulting or defaming the president punishable by two to 12 months in prison and a fine. Reporters Without Borders also called on the Sidi M'hamed court to reject the request made by a prosecutor on 25 January for the evening newspaper, Le Soir d'Algérie, to be suspended for six months for libel, pointing out that the press code makes no mention of suspension as a penalty in libel cases. "The prison terms or suspended sentences that have been handed down in recent months on journalists, the heavy fines imposed on newspapers and the threat of suspension hanging over certain daily newspapers are clear evidence of a desire to rein in the press in Algeria," the organisation said. "This sad spectacle does not reflect the 'remarkable development of the press' touted by the authorities or support their claims to have one of the freest presses in the third world," Reporters Without Borders added. One sentence after another In the libel hearing against Le Soir d'Algérie on 25 January, the prosecutor requested a sentence of six months in prison and a fine of 50,000 DA (530 euros) for editor Fouad Boughanem as well as the newspaper's suspension. The case is the result of an action brought by two members of the Banque de Développement Local (BDL) over an article published in 2001 in the newspaper's "Soir corruption" section. The entire journalistic profession has voiced its outrage and fear about the action. The newspaper's defence lawyer said the proposed suspension was very serious. "This means that today no newspaper is safe," he said. "I accept that journalists must abide by the law when doing their job, but it is worrying to see the prosecutor's office requesting suspension in an ordinary libel case." Sentencing has been scheduled for 22 February. In another of the cases heard on 25 January, the former managing editor of the daily Liberté, Farid Alilat, one of the newspaper's former journalists, Rédha Belhadjoudja, and a reporter with Le Soir d'Algérie, Hakim Laalam, were all given a suspended sentence of six months in prison and a fine of 250,000 DA (2,700 euros) for libelling the president. Boughanem, who was also a defendant in this case, was aquitted. The case resulted from an article which Liberté ran in solidarity with five newspaper that were prevented from publishing in the summer of 2003. The Sidi M'hamed court also imposed suspended sentences of six months in prison, together with damages of 3 million DA (32,000 euros) and a fine of 50,000 DA (530 euros) for Ali Djerri, the editor of the daily El Khabar, Omar Belhouchet, the editor of the French-language daily El Watan, and journalist Salima Tlemçani. This case stemmed from a libel action brought against the two newspapers by the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) over a letter they published which was allegedly written by police officers and which accused the DGSN director and his secretary general of questionable activities. The defendants refused to reveal their sources during the trial. In a separate libel case involving the agriculture ministry, Djerri also received a suspended sentence of two months in prison, was fined 50,000 DA (530 euros) and was ordered to pay symbolic damages of one dinar. The court also sentenced another journalist with Le Soir d'Algérie, Zoubir Souissi, to pay a fine of 50,000 DA(530 euros) and damages of 200,000 DA (2,100 euros) in a libel action brought by a BDL manager.