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Local media, including three companies, said the prosecution asked the Algiers Court of Appeal on Sunday to confirm the five-year prison sentence of newspaper boss Ihsane El Ghadi.
Mr. El Ghadi, 63, is being prosecuted for “his company’s overseas financing”.
He has been in jail since December 29. His arrest sparked a wave of solidarity among his colleagues and human rights activists in Algeria and Europe.
On April 2, he was sentenced at the first instance to five years in prison, two of which were suspended.
Mr. El Ghadi was accused of “receiving money and favors from individuals and entities in the country and abroad to engage in activities that undermine the security of the state and its stability,” the Algiers court later pointed out.
The court ordered the liquidation of his company Interface Médias and the confiscation of all his assets, in addition to fines against him and his companies.
In a resolution adopted on May 11, the European Parliament demanded the “immediate and unconditional release” of the press boss and called on Algerian authorities to respect media freedom.
The Algerian parliament reacted against the “flagrant intervention in the affairs of a sovereign country”, biased by the MEPs who “roundly rejected” the text “full of terrible lies”.
Algeria ranks 136th out of 180 countries in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index established by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Mr. A petition received by RSF calling for El Ghadi’s release has collected more than 10,000 signatures.
