ANOTHER ALGERIAN FACES PRISON OVER DEFAMATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 001558

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2017
TAGS: PHUM KDEM PGOV AG
SUBJECT: ANOTHER ALGERIAN FACES PRISON OVER DEFAMATION


Classified By: Ambassador Robert Ford; reasons 1.4 (b),(d).


1. (U) According to press reports on October 18, a local
journalist for the Arabic paper el-Fadjr in Djelfa, Tallal
Dhif, received a six-month prison sentence from a Djelfa
court on defamation charges stemming from articles he wrote
about corruption in Djelfa in 2004. Algerian press reports
noted that Dhif's articles exposed corruption at the
provincial agricultural affairs office that ultimately
resulted in senior officials there being jailed on corruption
charges.


2. (C) Ambassador and IO called on el-Fadjr October 24 to
hear el-Fadjr's editor's explanation. The editor, Hadda
Hezzam, and the reporter Dhif, who came up from Djelfa, noted
that Dhif was sentenced even though he was not present at the
court hearing. Dhif claimed he had received no court summons
and hence did not know about the court session. (He observed
that he had received previous summons and had attended four
sessions of the court case previously. Hezzam noted that it
is not unusual for the Algerian courts to fail to notify
persons that they are due in court.) Dhif said that after
publication of his articles Djelfa police arrested the head
of provincial agricultural affairs office and other
officials, who were subsequently condemned for embezzlement.
He also observed that while they remain in jail their appeals
have not yet concluded. Dhif said he remains free while he
appeals his case, and he is hopeful that ultimately he will
be acquitted.


3. (C) Over dinner October 22 Ambassador told a justice
ministry counselor and three judges that the use of
defamation laws to imprison journalists who write about
corruption was both hurting Algeria's reputation and limiting
the ability of the press to address governance problems. The
judge who presides over the top court in Bejaia was adamant
that prison sentences were appropriate since so few
journalists follow professional standards. Ambassador agreed
that journalistic standards should improve in Algeria and he
detailed programs the U.S. is providing. He pointed out,
however, that Algeria's independent press played a vital role
in informing the public even if some journalists should be
more professional. He urged the officials to consider
whether issuing fines instead of prison time would not
improve Algeria's image and compel newspaper editors to more
carefully consider the quality of their reporting. The
justice ministry counselor finally agreed that issuing fines,
instead of prison sentences, might make sense as a general
policy.


4. (C) On October 23 Ambassador told Algerian Human Rights
Commission President Farouk Ksentini, who is appointed by
President Bouteflika, that the el-Fadjr case seemed
especially curious since an Algerian court had confirmed what
Dhif had written concerning corruption at the Djelfa
agricultural office. The Ambassador said the GoA looked
nasty and that, in general, sentencing journalists to prison
for defamation was extreme. Ksentini, a lawyer, immediately
agreed. He said his Commission earlier this year had urged
the president to issue instructions to the justice ministry
that judges should stop issuing prison sentences for
defamation. Ksentini claimed that the 2006 amnesty
Bouteflika issued to all Algerian journalists then in jail
was aimed in the same direction. He noted that Algerian
judges, in contrast, were slow to get the message and still
susceptable to local influences.


5. (C) Lawyer Fatima Benbraham, who in the past has defended
journalists charged with defamation, told Ambassador October
23 that Algerian law makes any statement that "touches on the
dignity or honor of another individual" liable to conviction
of defamation. She said that Algerian law has no clause that
exempts a reporter if what he/she reports is actually shown
to be true, and such a limitation would be the biggest
contribution to reducing the threat hovering over Algerian
journalists now.


6. (C) Comment: The el-Fadjr case is not the only defamation
case in recent weeks. Another Djelfa journalist, Ouahid
Oussama at the Arabic paper el-Bilad, is to go on trial in
November on charges for writing about articles critical of
the Djelfa school administration, according to press reports.
Our sense is that these cases are locally driven -- they do
not come out of the ministry of interior or justice in
Algiers. That said, the only systemic way to solve the
problem appears to amend Algerian law. With this in mind,
Embassy will organize a workshop involving legal experts who

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can discuss how defamation is treated in more open societies.
Ksentini from the GoA's human rights commission liked this
idea and pledged he would support it.
FORD