Algerian Journalist, Jailed for 1 Year on Terrorism Charges, Released

Mohamed Mouloudj, an Algerian journalist with the French-language daily Liberté, was released by a court in the Algerian capital, Algiers, after receiving a 12-month prison sentence for “spreading false information.” Mouloudj, who spent 13 months in pre-trial detention on a terrorism charge for texting a government opponent, was released on Wednesday based on time served. The court also gave him a one-year suspended prison sentence. The prosecution had sought to sentence Mouloudj to 10 years in prison.

Six other defendants in the same case detained since September 2021 were also released after being acquitted of terrorism charges.

Mouloudj was arrested over a text he sent on April 27, 2021 to Ferhat Mehenni, the head of the Movement for Kabylie’s Self-Determination (MAK), requesting an interview for an article for Liberté. This text was considered evidence of membership in a terrorist organization and used as grounds for holding him in prison for 13 months pending trial, Reporters Without Borders reported.

“Mohamed Mouloudj is free but the sentence of a year in prison and another year suspended testifies to a desire on the part of the authorities to restrict ‘permitted’ journalism to praising the government’s activities. Press freedom in Algeria has clearly declined to the point that the very possibility of practicing journalism is now in doubt. The judicial harassment to which journalists are subjected creates a climate of fear pushing them to censor themselves or just give up,” Khaled Drareni, Reporters Without Borders North Africa representative, said in a statement.