The story made international headlines. Journalists scribbled furiously to get the word out. Algeria, a country emerging from a dark decade of terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism, had just held its first ever truly democratic multi-party elections.
But in Algeria the mood was less estatic. The first results were still coming through when local journalists began accusing the re-elected president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, of election fraud. They charged him with pumping up the results which gave him a staggering 86.5% win in the country’s April presidential elections. The antagonism was nothing new.
“There is deep disagreement between Bouteflika and the Algerian press, although he does everything to show the international media that all’s fine back home. There’s a huge difference between what he says abroad and what he applies here,” points out Salima Tlemcani, a senior reporter with the independent El Watan newspaper.
A case in point is the fact that the president has never held a press conference, or given an interview, on home soil; all interviews with Algerian journalists are done via fax. “He meets with the international press and tells them his media have freedom, but to us he says he’ll never accept another television channel. Algerian radio and TV remain controlled by the government.”
The state-run ENTV gave opposition candidates, across the three-week election campaign, airtime of a total of half-an-hour each. The rest of the news broadcasts were devoted to the president and his achievements. But Bouteflika’s campaign spokesperson, Abdelmalek Sellal, is unapologetic.
“The president has made it clear we cannot open up the audio-visual media until we have finished putting into place all the rules and laws surrounding the print media,” he declared.
No-one’s holding their breath. What free media there is in Algeria today – the country boasts around 45 daily newspapers with a circulation of over one-and-a-half million readers – came about in the early 1990s, when journalists took the initiative and set up their own independent newspapers.
“We’re still at the beginning of a free press in Algeria,” observes Mahmoud Belhimer, deputy chief editor of the independent national daily, Elkhabar.
“When you go to the streets and ask Algerians about their president, many will criticise the regime and tell you freely what they think. It’s very different to Egpyt and Saudi Arabia where the only answer you get is ‘rabi hafdu'(‘God bless him’). No-one here uses those words.”
Legally, however, there are many clauses working against independent journalists. Defamation laws are harsh and it is forbidden to talk about any scandals the president might be involved in. Reporting on the army is taboo and criticising the security of the State could result in ten years in prison. There’s also no guaranteed access to information.
“Any system in the Arab or third world does not want to have a free press and so inevitably there are pressures on us. The president does not believe in a free press and has said so publicly on television. He accuses us of being unprofessional and unskilled.”
Bouteflika has even gone so far as to call journalists “terrorists” and “non-believers”.
“We have lots of newspapers who criticise the government, who have the courage to look at the truth and say what they want, but who don’t have the financial backing from the private sector,” continues Belhimer.
“One cannot speak of a free newspaper if the paper doesn’t have its own print machine. Fortunately we have three around the country but many others don’t. It’s the smaller independent newspapers who are unable to survive without State advertising that are always the most threatened by closure. There’s also a lack of professionalism among journalists. Most receive no training.”
But, points out Said Katia Debouz, a journalist with Le Matin, the largest opposition newspaper in the country, read by close on 150,000 Algerians, “the fact that we have private and independent newspapers is a victory for democracy in Algeria.
“We talk about subjects that for many years did not exist in the government media. Terrorism for example. It started in 1995 on a high scale but the Algerian government denied that it was happening and most Algerians didn’t know about it.”
Reporting on topics the government press won’t touch hasn’t, though, always served the independent media well. Debouz explains that because it is the only vehicle through which opposition political parties can express themselves, many independent newspapers, whether wittingly or unwittingly, land up becoming their mouthpiece.
“This fact hasn’t served us well. Two years ago for example, Ali Benflis was Prime Minister and not a friend of the independent press. He was responsible for a lot of retaliation against us. But he’s now moved 180 degrees and comes here, shaking our hands [Benflis ran against Bouteflika for presidency in the recent elections]. If we were a true independent press we would talk about his background but we’re not allowed to. It’s up to our editor-in-chief. We’ve become a mixture of activism, journalism and political facts.”
But it’s a mixture accentuated by inspiring bravery. Most independent newspapers have their headquarters in the same lacklustre building in central Algiers. Smiling down from the long corridors are pictures of dozens of journalists killed by terrrorists over the years. Nowadays, while terrorism’s on the decline, intimidation continues. In the last five years more than 20 journalists have been summoned to police stations around Algiers. And now that the president has been voted into a second term of office, political analysts likes Arslan Chikhaoui fear he might try to further limit the freedom of the press.
“He might attempt to close down newspapers but he won’t succeed because he’s disconnected from the reality. Most Algerians support the independent media.”
Going on Assignment?
Paula Slier spent two months reporting from Algeria for television, radio and print this year, covering the presidential elections and writing several feature stories. Most international journalists who visit the country tend to be French and it’s preferable to know either French or Arabic, she says, although you can get by with a translator.
The government advises protection, but once you’re given consent it’s impossible to move around without at least four bodyguards who travel with you everywhere you go in the country.