European Parliament calls on Algeria to release journalists, activists
By Story Agencies, May 15, 2023The European Parliament has adopted a resolution urging the Algerian regime to “immediately release” arbitrarily detained journalists and activists.
The resolution was adopted by an overwhelming majority of MEPs, with 536 MEPs voting for, 18 abstaining, and only four voices voting against the resolution.
In a statement announcing its resolution, the EU Parliament reiterated concerns about the deterioration of the situation of media freedom in Algeria since the Hirak social movement hit the country in early 2019.
Human Rights’ Watch recently reported that the Algerian government continued to arrest and imprison protestors, activists, and journalists from the Hirak movement, alongside amending the country’s constitution to restrict freedom of speech and further curtail judicial independence
In the statement, the parliament said the resolution sought to urge Algeria’s authorities to release all arbitrarily detained dissidents as well as activists or journalists “charged for exercising their right” activists and journalists, including journalist Ihsane El Kadi.
After Algerian authorities arrested the journalist in December 2022, he was handed a five-year prison sentence this past April for allegedly “having received funds for political propaganda” and “harming the security of the state.”
According to the EU parliament, today’s resolution mainly served to call “on the Algerian authorities to amend security-related charges in the country’s Penal Code used to criminalise the right to freedom of expression.” In addition, the parliament called on all other EU institutions to “openly condemn the crackdown on media freedom in Algeria.”.