In Algeria, two journalists, Sofiane Ghirous and Ferhat Omar, working for the news website “Algeria Scoop,” were arrested by authorities after publishing a video showing businesswomen protesting their treatment at a government-sponsored event.
The National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees said authorities accuse journalists of disseminating information that incites hatred and propagates hate speech.
In the video, the female startup founders criticize the government, mentioning that they were humiliated and treated with contempt at an innovation event organized by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.
Ghirous, editor-in-chief of Algeria Scoop, and Omar, director of the site, were both accredited by the government in 2021.
Reporters Without Borders recently downgraded Algeria to 139th out of 180 countries in its 2024 world press freedom index, citing pressure on independent media and threats of arrest against journalists. In June, the news website Radio M announced it was shutting down due to untenable conditions. Its editor, Ihsane El Kadi, is currently serving a five-year prison sentence on charges related to accepting foreign funding for his coverage, which is often critical of the government.
This weekend, authorities also raided Librairie Gouraya in Béjaia, preventing the sale of the book “Shared Kabylie” by French author Dominique Martre, who was scheduled to hold a book signing there. Martre, the Algerian publisher, and several journalists and activists were briefly arrested. In his book, Martre recounts his experiences teaching French in the mountainous Kabylie region in the 1970s. All those arrested were released later that evening, said Mokrane Ait Labri, a lawyer whose journalist brother was among the detainees.
The crackdown on free speech comes ahead of September elections, when President Tebboune is likely preparing to run for a second term.
