The Algerian judiciary investigates the case and calls for his release



[ad_1]

The Judicial Council of Algiers is studying, on Tuesday, the appeal of the three-year prison sentence handed down against journalist Khaled Dararni, who has become a symbol of the fight for press freedom amid a local and international mobilization for your release.

The appeals session is carried out via a video link between the Algiers Judicial Council and the Qlaiaa prison in the western suburbs of Algiers, where Drareni (40 years old) has been since March 29.
This comes after the issuance, on August 10, of a three-year prison sentence with execution and a fine of 50,000 dinars (330 euros) for Drareni, director of the site “Tribune Kasbah” and correspondent for the French TV 5 Monde y the organization “Reporters Without Borders”. “in Algeria. Dararni was charged with” inciting unarmed reunions and compromising national unity “, after covering a demonstration of the anti-power movement that shook Algeria for a year in the capital on March 7 before he was arrested by the epidemic of Covid-19.
According to Reporters Without Borders, he is also accused of criticizing the political system through his Facebook page and publishing a statement from a coalition of political parties calling for a general strike.
One of the journalist’s lawyers, Mustafa Bouchachi, told AFP on Monday that “I visited Khaled Dararni two days ago, his spirits are high and calm. “If the Algerian Judicial Council applies the law, it can only declare him innocent.”
Appeals to Dararni on the same charges, political opponent Samir Belarbi and movement activist Suleiman Hamitoush, who were released after being sentenced to two years in prison, including four months with the expiration date, and they had previously served their sentence in temporary detention.
Since the verdict was delivered, national and international calls for the release of Khaled Dararni have multiplied.
Yesterday, Monday, journalists and human rights activists gathered in Paris and the Algerian and Tunisian capitals chanting the slogan “Free Drareni.”
In Paris, the general secretary of “Reporters Without Borders”, Christophe Deloire, said that “the Algerian authorities wanted to use him as an example to intimidate journalists in Algeria, but they made him a symbol of defending press freedom.”
It should be noted that the appeal session takes place in a climate of repression against independent media, activists of the movement and political opponents. According to the National Committee for the Release of Detainees, some 45 people are behind bars due to their activity within the Hirak movement in Algeria. In recent months, journalists have been accused by the regime of “sowing discord”, undermining national unity and working “for the benefit of foreign parties”.

[ad_2]