European Parliament calls on Algeria to respect press freedom and release prisoners of conscience

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who underestimated Reporters Without Borders' call for respect for press freedom and the release of prisoners of conscience, including journalist El Kadi Ihsane, was dealt a real blow this morning when he learned of the European Parliament's vote on a resolution along the same lines.

This resolution not only reminds the Algerian government that its violation of freedoms is of concern to the whole of Europe, but even more seriously, it confirms the isolation of Algiers on the international stage. With only 4 votes against this resolution, while 536 voted in favour, it is clear that the Algerian regime does not have many, if any, friends. In fact, the Algerian regime has clients, but no friends. This is serious for Tebboune and his team, who constantly claim that Algerian diplomacy has regained its former splendour. 

For its part, RSF has welcomed the resolution in the words of its EU representative, Julie Majorczak, who wrote: "With this resolution, the European Parliament has shown that it has no intention of remaining silent about the repression of Algeria's remaining independent media, despite the fact that Algeria is an important economic partner". As Ihsane El Kadi's appeal will be heard in the coming days, we urge the European Commission and EU Member States to do everything possible to ensure that this journalist regains his freedom. The Algerian authorities must realise that muzzling the media is a dangerous path that will ultimately not benefit them.

In the next few days we can expect a salvo from the UN Human Rights Council and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which will denounce the list of journalists, politicians and bloggers labelled as terrorists, published some time ago in the official bulletin.

Hard times have begun for the Algerian generals, who believe they enjoy impunity in the concert of nations by blackmailing with their gas since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war.