Ali Dilem

Ali Dilem knows only too well that it’s not easy to be a cartoonist in Algeria. He has long worked in difficult circumstances, drawing political cartoons for the Algerian daily newspaper Liberté and the TV5 program Monde Kiosque. He has regularly received death threats and has been taken in for questioning on many occasions, receiving suspended prison terms for defamation. In 2001, he had the dubious honour of seeing his name attached to a series of amendments to the Algerian criminal code that provide for prison sentences of up to a year for journalists. However, Dilem never gave up. His drawings have won some 20 international prizes including the 2005 Press Freedom Trophy awarded by France’s Limousin Press Club and Reporters Without Borders. He was also appointed Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2010.