4,000 detainees benefit this pardon by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on 70th anniversary of independence war with France.
On charges of threatening state security and taking funding for his media outlet, Ihsan EI Kadi was imprisoned and is now freed by Presidential pardon, his lawyers claim.
After President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune has signed on two decrees of pardon for more than forty thousand detainees on the 70th anniversary of the 1956-1962 conflict with France which led to the North African country’s independence.
EI Kadi, heading Interface Medias, that comprises Maghreb Emergent news website and Radio M, has also served a year and four months during seven-year sentence that he received in June 2023.
The maximum penalty under an article in the penal code is seven years that criminalizes any person that receives financial aid for carrying acts undermining state security.
In December 2022, he was first arrested and detained under a state security law.
El Kadi paid a total of 11.7 million dinars ($86,200) in fines in addition to his imprisonment which the court has ordered along with the two media outlets dissolved and ruled.
The two media outlets were the main players in forceful resignation of octogenarian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2019 after 20 years in power in 2019.
The Jounalist was sentenced to 7 years after his appeal for initial five-year term of “foreign financing for his business”
The funds were claimed to be sent by his London-based daughter Tin Hinane who is shareholder in his media group in order to fix the debts.
This arrest of El Kadi sparked a wave of solidarity in colleagues and rights activists of both Algeria and Europe.
The ranking of Algeria is 139 out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
Source: (Al Jazeera)