By Ebi Kesiena
Algerian journalist Ihsane El Kadi, who owns a media group and has been a vocal critic of the government, has been placed in a pre-trial detention, accused of receiving foreign funding, his lawyers said on Thursday after he was arrested on Dec. 24.
El-Kadi, the director of Radio M and the Maghreb Emergent news website, saw the premises of both sealed by authorities at the time of his arrest December 24 about 60 kilometers from Algiers.
Reporters Without Borders, the international media freedom group, condemned El Kadi’s arrest and called on the authorities to “free him and respect the work of the media in the country”.
The Maghreb Emergent published “His arrest came the day after Radio M broadcast two programs and published an article on the issues of the second mandate and the organization of the Hirak.”
However according to the Financial Times, Algerian journalist Daikha Dridi noted that Radio M and its sister Maghreb Emergent website was basically the last remaining media space where people could still discuss politics and publish critical articles without censoring themselves.
“The web radio had many programs in which people could come together and debate freely what is happening in the country.” He stated.
