An Algerian newspaper and a press freedom watchdog criticised as heavy handed on Thursday suspended six month prison terms handed to two journalists for allegedly libelling Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.
The private Arabic-language daily Ech-Chorouk was sued by Gaddafi through Libya’s Algiers embassy for stories suggesting he played a role in negotiations among Tuareg tribal leaders aimed at creating an independent Tuareg state in Africa’s Sahel region.
Tuaregs are a sensitive topic among the governments of North and West Africa because they are nomads who are proud of their centuries-old independence from outsiders. They are found in Algeria, Chad, Libya, Niger, Mali and Mauritania.
An Algerian court banned Ech-Chourouk for three months and ordered it to pay Gaddafi 500 000 dinars ($6 850) in damages, jailed executive editor Ali Fodil and reporter Naila Berrahal for six months and fined them 20 000 dinars each.
Under Algerian law all components of the sentence are suspended pending appeal.
”The sentences that hit our colleagues at Ech-Chourouk are scandalous … Ech-Chourouk is a private daily that has an independent editorial line, which means that it did not commit the Algerian government [to its position],” El Watan‘s influential editor Omar Belhouchet said in a column.
He noted that Libya’s role in the Sahel region had been commented on by many Algerian newspapers.
Tuaregs staged revolts in the 1960s and 1990s in Mali and Niger for more autonomy from black African governments in capitals more than 1 000km away.
Reporters sans Frontières protested that the court had acted to protect Algeria’s diplomatic relations with Libya.
”The disproportion of this sentence illustrates once again the absurdity and subservience of the Algerian justice system,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said.
Anis Rahmani, Ech-Chorouk‘s editor, said: ”We will appeal, but if the decision is confirmed we will continue to print online.”
He added: ”In addition to national pressure, the Algerian press should now take into account regional pressure.”
Algeria has more than 45 daily newspapers published in French and Arabic, with a total circulation of more than 1,5-million copies.
Its criminal code was amended in 2001 to allow prison sentences of up to one year and substantial fines for defaming the president, the courts, the military, or Parliament, a step viewed as an effort to rein in the press.
Algerian newspapers are normally seen as among the freest in the region. – Reuters