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| Africa North |
| Algerian journalist ordered held in custody, accused of belonging to terrorist group |
| 2021-09-16 |
| [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Algerian journalist from a local French-language newspaper has been remanded in jug, accused of belonging to a terrorist organization and spreading false information, a lawyer and rights group said. A judge in Sidi M’hamed district of Algiers on Tuesday evening ordered Liberte journalist Mohammed Mouloudj to be placed in provisional detention, according to the National Committee for the Release of Detainees (CNLD). Mouloudj is accused of "undermining national unity, belonging to a terrorist organization and spreading false information," lawyer Abdelghani Badi said on Facebook. The Algerian government last year criminalized the dissemination of what it considers "false news" that harms national unity. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly accused Algerian authorities of resorting to criminal prosecutions against journalists and others using vaguely worded offences in the penal code. Mouloudj was arrested on Sunday and his home searched, according to the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH). Six other people arrested in the same case were also remanded in jug, the CNLD said. |
| Posted by:Fred |