Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni received a six-month suspended prison sentence. ** The independent reporter who has become a symbol of the fight for press freedom in Algeria, saw his sentence reduced from two years in prison to ** six months suspended following a new trial.
Sentenced for inciting an unarmed crowd, Khaled Drareni was arrested in August 2020 while covering a hirak march in Algiers.
After spending 11 months in prison, he was pardoned by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and released in February 2021.
Thursday, the Court of Appeal of Algiers reduced the sentence of the founder of the information site Casbah Tribune thanks to a requalification of the facts. The fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars was upheld.
Khaled Drareni is also a correspondent for the television channel TV5 Monde and the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The authorities also accused him of having worked for a foreign media without accreditation
According to the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights, several Algerian journalists are in prison, after convictions or awaiting trial.
