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Despite being bitter rivals on many issues, North African neighbors Morocco and Algeria seem to have one thing in common: to muzzle the press.
On Monday, a Moroccan court is due to render a verdict in the trial of human rights activist Omar Radi, detained for nearly a year on charges of espionage and rape, which he denies.
The case, in a closed-door trial criticized by human rights watchdogs, follows a five-year prison sentence on July 10 against Moroccan journalist Soulaimane Raissouni for indecent assault.
Moroccan and Algerian authorities have detained and tried several journalists on charges ranging from undermining national interests to sexual assault, and their courts have imposed severe sentences.
The measures have drawn international condemnation as critics at home say the trials are politically motivated. The authorities, however, insist that the judiciary is independent.
In Algeria, which has been rocked by intermittent pro-democracy protests since 2019, press freedoms are also being violated, according to rights groups.
Prominent Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni was sentenced in September to two years in prison for “inciting an unarmed rally” and “endangering national unity”.
“In Algeria in 2021, one word can take you to jail, you have to be careful of everything you say or write,” said Drareni, released in February thanks to a presidential pardon for detainees of the Hirak protest movement .
The mother of prominent Moroccan journalist Omar Radi holds up a banner of her son, who is due to hear the verdict of his trial on Monday for espionage and rape, charges he denies. By FADEL SENNA (AFP) The head of the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Christophe Deloire, is a vocal critic of the treatment of journalists in Algeria and Morocco.
The root cause is that the two countries have “destabilized systems,” he told AFP.
“They are stuck in a spiral” of repression.
“Don’t like bold journalism”
Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni, pictured here on February 19, 2021, after his release from prison. By RYAD KRAMDI (AFP) RSF ranked Algeria 146th out of 180 countries and territories in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index, while Morocco was 136th.
“In Algeria … and Morocco … the justice system is being used to help silence journalists,” the report said.
Human Rights Watch’s interim executive director for the Middle East and North Africa, Eric Goldstein, sounded the alarm in August 2020 ahead of the verdict against Drareni.
“Morocco and Algeria are neighbors and rivals (…) compete for diplomatic supremacy in the Maghreb region, fight over Western Sahara and insult each other daily through state-influenced media,” he said. he said in a press release.
“The Algerian and Moroccan authorities can compete with each other in many areas, but when it comes to disliking journalism and bold commentary, they agree,” he added.
“Morocco’s modus operandi is to lay a multitude of specific criminal charges, while Algerian authorities prefer loosely defined criminal code offenses,” Goldstein said.
The conviction of Drareni, a symbol of the fight for press freedom who worked for French-speaking TV5 and the media monitoring organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), outraged his fellow journalists.
Drareni was arrested in Algiers in March 2020 while covering the pro-democracy movement Hirak, which swept former strongman Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power in 2019.
The protests continued after Bouteflika’s ouster, with protesters demanding a radical overhaul of the system of government in place since Algeria’s independence from France in 1962.
Rare American critic
Protesters stand outside the offices of the Algerian newspaper Liberté on April 25, 2021, calling for the release of journalist Rabah Kareche. By – (AFP) Another emblematic figure of repression in Algeria, Rabah Kareche, sentenced in April to one year in prison for disseminating false information “undermining public security”.
The arrest of Kareche, a correspondent for the French-language newspaper Liberté in Tamanrasset in Algeria’s far south, came after he published an article about a Tuareg protest movement in the region.
Raissouni’s five-year prison sentence sparked rare criticism against Morocco last Monday from its influential ally the United States.
The State Department said it was “disappointed” by the ruling against Raissouni.
“We believe that the judicial process which led to this verdict contradicts the fundamental promise of the Moroccan system of fair trials for those accused of crimes and is incompatible with the promise of the 2011 constitution and the reform program of His Majesty the King Mohammed VI, “State Department spokesman Ned Price said. mentionned.
Price said Washington was also raising other journalists’ cases with Rabat.
RSF said Raissouni’s trial was “marred by irregularities” and called for the release of the 49-year-old man, who has gone on a hunger strike of more than 90 days.
The Moroccan prosecution, however, insisted on the fact that Raissouni had been “prosecuted for crimes which have nothing to do with his work as a journalist”.
Algeria and Morocco have also tightened the screws on foreign correspondents, making it difficult for them to obtain accreditation.
“It discredits these countries and threatens to undermine their image, even some diplomatic relations,” said Deloire of RSF.
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