2009

New York, October 8, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Algerian authorities to drop charges against journalist and rights activist Hafnaoui Ghoul, who is on trial for writing articles critical of local authorities in Djelfa province. 

Dear Mr. President: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to protest the rising incidence of press freedom violations, many of which occurred during the recent electoral campaign that resulted in your re-election to a third term.

New York, March 9, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the provisional release on medical grounds of an Algerian journalist known for his denunciation of corruption under President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, but is concerned that he will need to return to jail to serve a six-month sentence.

Algerian police confiscated journalist Mohamed Benchicou’s new manuscript, The Journal a Free Man, from a printing plant in Blida, south of Algiers. In a statement posted on several news Web sites, Benchicou said security forces raided the printer and ordered the director to cease the printing job. The raid came a few days before Algeria…

ALGERIA | JORDAN | KUWAIT | MAURITANIA | SAUDI ARABIA | SYRIA | TURKEY| UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ALGERIA • In September, the Supreme Court overturned the defamation convictions of Editor-in-Chief Omar Belhouchet and columnist Chawki Amari of the Algiers-based independent daily El Watan, the newspaper’s lawyer, Zoubeir Soudani, told CPJ. The high court ordered a…