In Algeria, the heavy hand of justice is against Ihsane El Kadi

Seven years in prison, five of which are closed. Ihsane Kadi, head of the Interface Media group that brings together Radio M and the Maghreb Emergent website, was handed Sunday June 18th upon appeal the most severe sentence ever against a journalist in Algeria.

He was sentenced in the first degree, on April 2, to five years imprisonment, three of which are firm, and Ihsane Al-Qadi was not returned to the Algiers Court to hear the sentence be lifted. Through videoconferencing, from El Harrach prison in Algiers, he heard the verdict read out by the judge in a monotonous tone. “It is as if we do not want to look him in the eyes to tell him of an unjust ruling that was issued in the name of the people.” Sums up a broken friend.

The quality of the broadcast did not make it possible to see the reaction of the journalist. On the other hand, in the room, Jamil, his wife, friends and very few journalists did not hide their grief. “The condemnation of Ihsan al-Qadi is surreal”, Outraged was Khaled Drareni, RSF’s representative for North Africa. “It is the product of judicial harassment against a journalist who struggled to exercise his profession freely in the context of a general political lockdown.”.

No evidence

No one expected an acquittal because it is not in the culture of judges in Algeria to disavow the security services or the prosecution. But the severity of the punishment is surprising.

After boycotting the first instance trial to denounce the attacks on Ihsan al-Qadi’s right to a fair trial, and in particular the public statements of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune accusing him of being “tell me”The group of lawyers, an outside informant, demonstrated on June 4, during the appeals trial, the foolishness of the accusations against Ehsan al-Qadi. The journalist was accused of receiving money from abroad “Carrying out or inciting acts that are likely to undermine the security of the state, the stability of its institutions, its normal functioning, national unity, territorial integrity and interests.”. A charge punishable by five to seven years in prison under Article 95 of the Penal Code.

Neither in the composition of the file nor during the trial, the prosecution was able to present evidence. The prosecution clung to the payment of a sum of money from the royalties by Tin Hanan Al-Qadi, the daughter of the journalist, who is based in London and shareholder in Interface Médias, to help pay the salaries of employees during the Covid crisis, which greatly affected Interface Media’s finances. The lawyers confirmed that the writings of Ihsan al-Qadi and his insistence on practicing his profession freely made him a target of the authority.

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