An Algerian court has placed Algerian journalist Abdelwakil Blamm under provisional detention. The move appears to be part of a broad crackdown targeting opposition activists and journalists challenging the regime’s policies.
Converging reports indicated that the court justified its ruling by claiming that the journalist was in contact with “terrorists” operating outside Algeria.
The news website Al Hurra quoted the court’s detention order as detailing that the arrest was based on information from the regional judicial investigation committee affiliated with the Interior Security Directorate.
Under the court’s decision, Blamm faces charges of “disseminating false and malicious” news on his Facebook page.
The claims suggested that police also conducted a technical investigation on the journalist’s cellphone, which showed that he allegedly had contact with “some journalists operating outside Algerian territory.”
Based on these claims, the journalist is facing extremely serious charges, including “participating in a terrorist organization” as well as the “misdemeanor of spreading false news among the public that could harm security and public order.”
This latest arrest of a critical journalist comes as Algeria continues to face backlash for its crackdown campaign targeting activists and journalists opposing the regime’s policies.
In July last year, Algerian authorities arrested two journalists for publishing a video showing businesswomen protesting how they were treated at a government event.
“Journalists in Algeria have faced mounting repression since President Abdelmadjid Tebboune came to power four years ago, with possible long-jail time on flimsy charges, experts say,” AP reported at the time.
Also last year, in November, Algeria arrested author Boualem Sansal for making comments that vigorously contradicted the Algerian regime’s official narrative on a number of sensitive topics. President Abdelmajid Tebboune even described the writer as an “imposter who doesn’t know his identity.”
