The adoption of an emergency resolution, Thursday May 11, 2023 by the European Parliament during a plenary session in Strasbourg, which condemns the growing attacks on freedom of the press in Algeria has not gone unnoticed and has react Algiers.
Indeed, the European Parliament has, among other things, demanded the immediate and unconditional release of journalist Ihsane El Kadi, the European Parliament shows that it no longer intends to remain silent in the face of the repression carried out by the Algerian authorities against the country’s independent media. Even though Algiers is an important economic partner for the EU after having somewhat replaced Russia with regard to gas, the European Parliament adopted the resolution by a very large majority (536 votes for, 4 against, 18 abstentions).
In addition, the European Parliament’s emergency resolution is concerned about the significant deterioration of press freedom in Algeria since the Hirak protests in 2019 and the harassment of journalists, including journalist Ihsane El Kadi, director of Radio M and Maghreb Émergent. Therefore, the European parliamentarians strongly call for the release of the journalist who has been in detention since the end of December 2022 and sentenced to 3 years in prison on April 2, 2023, for illegal fundraising, attack on state security and the public order.
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He also calls for an amendment to the Penal Code used to criminalize freedom of expression under the guise of national security, and for Algerian legislation to be brought into line with international human rights standards. Finally, the resolution asks the Algerian authorities to guarantee the issuance of the necessary visas and authorizations to foreign journalists and media so that they can work freely.
The APN condemns the resolution of the European Parliament
The National People’s Assembly (APN) condemned, in the strongest terms, the “unfounded and erroneous content” resolution of the European Parliament (EP) on freedom of expression and of the press in Algeria, saying that it it is “a shameless interference in the internal affairs of the country”.
“We learned with deep indignation of the European Parliament’s resolution on freedom of expression and of the press in Algeria”, indicates the APN, stressing that this document included elements “totally unfounded, erroneous, and far from the truth about the situation in Algeria where the media scene is dynamic, open and free”.
Condemning “in the strongest terms the content of this resolution”, the APN considered that it is “a shameless interference by the European Parliament in the internal affairs of our country, resolutely determined to initiate a real take-off through the building of its sovereign constitutional institutions”.
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“Sovereign in its decisions and positions, Algeria believes in the principle of equals in its relations with the countries of the world, including the European Union, and in no way tolerates the policy of double standards. measures that serve agendas known to all,” said the lower house of parliament.
The APN expressed, in its press release, “its extreme astonishment” at the attitude of the European Parliament which “ignored the direct channel of communication between the two bodies, namely the Joint Parliamentary Commission “Algeria-EU” which has just ‘to have a new president, elected by the European side following the resignation of the old one for his involvement in corruption cases’.
The Council of Nation castigates the European Parliament
For its part, the Council of the Nation expressed its categorical rejection of the content of the European Parliament’s press release, denouncing the “flagrant untruths conveyed under the cover of the principles of international law, which constitutes a shameless interference in the internal affairs of ‘a sovereign state,’ said a press release from the Council of the Nation.
“The office of the Council of the Nation, under the presidency of Salah Goudjil, President of the Council, expresses its categorical rejection and castigates a recurring blunder of the European Parliament which has just made public, without scruples, under cover of International Law and moral principles , a press release truncated with shameless untruths”, underlines the press release of the Council.
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“This depravity and this dangerous slippage, rejected, represents a recurrent interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State. It is, in fact, an outburst of malevolent parties who have always instrumentalized this institution, stripping it of all credibility with freedom-loving souls around the world,” he added.
He asserted that the European Parliament which “stands, with impudence, on a pedestal of arrogance and contempt, calls for the respect of human rights in certain countries and their stifling in others. Sometimes fighting for independence and sometimes displaying a deafening silence in the face of tyranny. It calls for respect for legality while feeding on exploitation, relying, in this, on legal, political, diplomatic and moral untruths”.
As a result, the Bureau of the Council of Nation calls on the European Parliament to “depart from the policy of double standards and not to show hatred and resentment towards countries which do not submit to its policies”. .
