Some online news sites blocked Wednesday in Algeria are again accessible this Thursday, December 3 in the evening, with the exception of Casbah Tribune, founded by the imprisoned journalist Khaled Drareni, AFP noted.
Read also: Algeria: the regime is once again tightening the screw against online media
At least three generalist electronic media were blocked in less than 24 hours Wednesday, without any explanation, by the Algerian authorities: Casbah Tribune, Tariq News and Twala.info, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The latter two were released on Thursday, AFP could verify in Algiers.
On the other hand, Casbah Tribune, a national news site founded in 2017 by Khaled Drareni, sentenced in September to two years in prison, remained inaccessible in Algeria.
Many news sites were censored at will by the authorities in 2020, such as Radio M, Maghreb Emergent, Interlignes, L'Avant-Garde and TSA (Tout sur l'Algerie).
Maghreb Emergent and Radio M were released again on Thursday.
In a statement, RSF on Thursday denounced the “
last obstacles to press freedom
” in Algeria and urged the authorities to “
respect their international commitments
”.
“
The crackdown on critical voices continues to intensify, both online and offline.
We call on the Algerian authorities to respect the Constitution and its international commitments, at the risk of seeing the country empty of its journalists,
”said Souhaieb Khayati, director of the North Africa office of RSF.
Read also: Algeria: three years in prison required against Karim Tabbou, figure of Hirak
Asked Thursday, the Quai d'Orsay reiterated the "
constant
"
position
of France which "
defends the freedom of the press everywhere in the world.
The freedom to inform is a fundamental right, which must be protected
”.
Algeria is in 146th place (out of 180) in the 2020 world press freedom ranking established by RSF, a drop of five places compared to 2019 and 27 places compared to 2015. In a statement to the official APS press agency on Monday, the Algerian Minister of Communication, Ammar Belhimer, a former journalist, estimated that RSF "
is not at all an NGO
" but is an "
active element in the chain of expression of French soft power across the world
”.
