Algeria: Journalist Arrested For Reporting On Covid-19, Placed Under Judicial Control
Location: Algeria
Date: April 17, 2020
Journalist Meriem Chorfi, along with two male journalists, was arrested and placed under judicial control by Alegrian authorities on April 2 for their reporting on Covid-19. They will all be prosecuted on charges of “attack on national unity " and "dissemination of publications which may harm the national interest" on the basis of article 79 of the Penal Code.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism denounces the arbitrary arrest of Meriem and her colleague for doing their job and demands their immediate release. The Alegrian government prosecuting their journalists for reporting about an ongoing global pandemic is beyond comprehension.
During these challenging times, journalists should be given absolute liberty to exercise their right to freedom of speech and keep the public informed about the situation at hand - but Alegria believes otherwise.
Reports suggest that the Algerian political police have dragged Meriem and her colleagues to court for not toeing the line set by the regime. They have been accused of reporting errors and faulty results of Covid-19 testing by the state-controlled Pasteur Institute of Algiers. Four journalists - Khaled Drareni, Sofiane Merakchi, Said Boudour and Mustapha Bendjama - were already being punished for reporting about the pandemic.
Even citizens, who post content on social media that reveals the truth about the regime’s inadequacy to deal with the virus, are being held in custody. A woman named Imane Meddour was also arrested on April 2, after she posted a video on social media criticizing the regime’s Covid-19 mismanagement.
Meriem and her colleagues have also been targeted using the country’s judicial system, while attacks against press freedom have also escalated following the anti-regime Hirak movement. Even though the article 50 of Algeria’s constitution protects journalists from government’s abuse, Meriem and other journalists continue getting persecuted for speaking truth to power.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism urges authorities in Alegria to release Meriem and the two journalists arrested along with her. We demand that the charges placed on them are dropped and they are given the freedom to report on Covid-19 without any fear.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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