Djamel Alilat, a journalist reporter for the French-language daily El Watan, was detained on the evening of 28 May at 10.30 pm by the Moroccan police in Nador in the Moroccan Rif region where he was reporting for his newspaper.
According to his brother, Farid Alilat, the arrest took place while covering a small demonstration with the president of a local association in Nador. The two men were taken to the police station.
The president of the association was released a few hours after the arrest while the Algerian journalist is still held in police custody.
The reporter called one of his contacts around 5:00 am to ask him to alert the embassy of Algeria in Morocco. For the time being, it is learned from the same source, he was not mistreated. He was always interrogated at the police station.
The editor of his newspaper, El Watan, said he was “very surprised and very concerned about the arrest and demanded the release of the journalist”.
The Rif region has been plagued by protests for several months. Since Friday, the arrest of dozens of activists has increased tension in the region.
