Algeria: the trial of journalist and press boss Ihsane el Kadi postponed
Ihsane El Kadi on Radio M, in 2016. © Youtube screenshot
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
The court of Sidi M'hamed in Algiers decided on Sunday March 12 to postpone until March 26 the trial of the Algerian press boss Ihsane el Kadi, imprisoned since the end of December, in order to allow the accused to be tried in person.
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In Algeria, the trial of journalist and press boss Ihsane el Kadi opened on Sunday March 12 to be immediately postponed to March 26.
The director of Radio M and the Maghreb Emergent site, accused of "
foreign financing of his company
", refused to be judged remotely, from the prison where he is still detained.
The judge announced the postponement of the trial "
in order to allow the extraction of the accused
[de la prison, NDLR]
and the presence of all the parties involved in the case
", according to the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (CNLD ).
The lawyer Pierre Brunisseau, member of the defense collective of Ihsane el Kadi, considers that this proposal for judgment by videoconference does not respect, once again,
the rights of his client
and he calls for his release.
“
Ihsane el Kadi is an eminent journalist, who has done a number of investigations on quite sensitive subjects.
The Algerian media talk about it.
And today, Ihsane el Kadi is refused to appear in court.
Organizing a video call by leaving him in the prison cells, for us, is unacceptable.
We are still asking for his immediate release, we are also asking for a show of hands on the two media that are his, Maghreb Émergent and Radio M
”, two independent media that are quite critical of the Algerian power.
A petition collects 10,000 signatures
Ihsane el Kadi's lawyers have already announced that they will boycott the March 26 hearing.
“
All the lawyers consider that it is, as it stands, impossible to work properly since President Tebboune spoke publicly and called Ihsane el Kadi a traitor.
So, beyond the attack on the presumption of innocence, it is also a flagrant demonstration of the lack of independence of justice in Algeria.
»
In the meantime, the Ihsane el Kadi defense collective is calling for his release.
His trial, believe his lawyers, is emblematic of the attacks on freedom of expression by the Algerian authorities.
“
The arrest of Ihsane el Kadi is symbolic, because there is a wave of repression at the moment in Algeria.
If he is prosecuted today, it is for his opinions, not for the alleged crimes he could have committed, because the file is empty.
The offenses for which he is prosecuted are chimerical.
We are trying to muzzle Ihsane el Kadi, it is a real attack on freedom of expression and also on press rights
, ”says the journalist's advice.
Ihsane El Kadi was remanded in custody on December 29 as part of an investigation into illegal fundraising.
He is suspected "
of having received sums of money and privileges from persons and organizations in the country and abroad in order to engage in activities likely to undermine the security of the State and its stability
”, had then indicated the Court of Algiers.
According to Reporter Without Borders, Ihsane el Kadi's arrest "
came just days after the publication of articles critical of the authorities
".
RSF has launched a petition to obtain the release of Mr. El Kadi which has collected more than 10,000 signatures.
(
And with
AFP)
►Also read: 2022, a "dark year" for journalism in Algeria
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