Algeria passes divisive media law

Observers say a restrictive new press act isolates Algeria at a time of expanding freedom throughout the Arab world.

By Nazim Fethi for Magharebia in Algiers – 19/12/11

Algeria's People's National Assembly passed a controversial new media law on Wednesday (December 14th), despite opposition from journalists and many politicians.

Although the act does away with prison sentences for journalists, opens up the audio-visual sector to private companies and includes a provision for new authorities to govern the press, it also places numerous restrictions on the free exercise of reporters, particularly in terms of access to sources of information.

"The law contains serious restrictions imposed in the name of defending the country's foreign policy and economic interests," according to Mustapha Bouchachi, president of the Algerian Human Rights League. In his view, the new legislation restricts freedom of expression through "a series of considerations adapted by the regime to suit its own interests".

Khaled Bourayou, a lawyer who specializes in defending journalists, commented that the new law was "merely window-dressing by the authorities for the sake of our image abroad, when the reality is different". He said he lamented the situation in terms of free expression following the act's passage, adding that "all efforts made by media professionals to improve the law were ignored".

Bourayou called on "all parties worried about the future of civil liberties in this country to continue their efforts to guarantee freedom of expression".

Kamel Amrani, National Journalists' Union Secretary-General, said that his union warned against amending the 1990 Information Act. "We said that amending it would not necessarily mean that greater freedoms would be guaranteed," he said.

As the vote was taking place, press freedom campaigners gathered outside parliament. The demonstrators issued a statement expressing their "rejection of the bill on the Information Code, which does not address the expectations, aspirations and hopes of journalists, who aspire to professional and social protection".

"To speak of an opposition force, you must first have a political scene. In Algeria, however, we no longer have politics or a political scene," commented Redouane Boudjemaa, an information and communication science teacher.

"The Algerian authorities are moving even closer towards the margins of history," Boudjemaa added. "They are thinking about their own interests, not the interests of the state."

Brahim Brahimi, the head of the journalism graduate school in Algiers, commented that "the adoption of the two laws runs counter to what is going on around the world and the Arab world in particular".

"With this law, we are isolating ourselves," Brahimi said. "What's more, the law goes against the reforms. In 1990, we insisted on the right to information, and now, with the opening-up of the audio-visual sector, we need to emphasize the right to communicate."

"We are really taking a backwards step towards the law of 1982. The press must prove that it is the second authority in Algeria. Journalists must step up their efforts. The authorities have succeeded in destabilizing political parties without the courts daring to react," he added.

"The press must now keep fighting to ensure that civil society finds its rightful place in a modern state," Brahimi said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/12/19/feature-02.