Algeria protesters jailed before speech by interim president

An Algerian court has jailed 22 citizens detained during a protest march two days ago in a new sign that authorities may be trying to put the brakes on a pro-democracy movement demonstrating weekly for nearly seven months.

The TSA online media outlet reported the incarcerations on Sunday, quoting the group's lawyers, hours before Algeria's interim president was to address the nation. There was speculation that Abdelkader Bensalah will set a date for a much-contested presidential election.

The oil- and gas-rich North African nation's powerful army chief, Ahmed Gaid Salah, has pressed for a vote as soon as possible to replace Abdelaziz Bouteflika, pushed out in April after two decades in office by protesters with help from the army leader.

FILE - In this April 9, 2019 file photo, Abdelkader Bensalah stands while being named interim leader to replace former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in Algiers. Tens of thousands of Algerians have taken to the streets each Friday since Feb.22 in protests triggered by Bouteflika's plans to prolong his 20 years in power. Determined but peaceful, protesters seek a new, democratic era, without a trace of the reign of Bouteflika, whose regime was mired in corruption. (AP PhotoToufik Doudou, File)

For weeks, Gaid Salah has stressed the need to return Africa's largest country to a constitutional framework with an elected president, and claimed that the protesters are being manipulated by enemies from within and without.

The interim leader's 90-day term expired long ago. Weeks ago he named the Sept. 15 date to announce elections, and following through would mean that the army, which has run the country at least from behind the scenes since independence, maintains its hold on political life.

Police, meanwhile, have increasingly cracked down on protesters. Karim Tabou, 51, a well-known figure in the movement, was jailed Friday on charges of undermining the military.

An Algerian woman holds a placard with Arabic that reads, "I do not vote" during a march in the capital Algiers to protest against the government, in Algeria, Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. Africa's largest country has had no elected president for five months, and the powerful army chief wants to change that after months of protests he sees as a threat. . (AP PhotoFateh Guidoum )

Numerous citizens have been jailed since the Feb. 22 start of the peaceful demonstrations aimed at ridding Algeria of the Bouteflika era, mired in corruption. Among those jailed are people waving regional flags and, shocking for many, a veteran of Algeria's independence war with France that ended in 1962.

Protesters now demand that "political prisoners" be set free and many chant for the army chief to leave.

FILE - In this April 26, 2019 file photo, a demonstrator holds a placard showing Abdelkader Bensalah and reading "Get out" during a protest in Algiers. Tens of thousands of Algerians have taken to the streets each Friday since Feb.22 in protests triggered by Bouteflika's plans to prolong his 20 years in power. Determined but peaceful, protesters seek a new, democratic era, without a trace of the reign of Bouteflika, whose regime was mired in corruption. (AP PhotoFateh Guidoum, File)

Algerian demonstrators take to the streets in the capital Algiers to protest against the government, in Algeria, Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. Africa's largest country has had no elected president for five months, and the powerful army chief wants to change that after months of protests he sees as a threat. (AP PhotoToufik Doudou)

Algerian demonstrators take to the streets in the capital Algiers to protest against the government, in Algeria, Friday, Sept. 13, 2019. Africa's largest country has had no elected president for five months, and the powerful army chief wants to change that after months of protests he sees as a threat. (AP PhotoToufik Doudou)

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — An Algerian journalist was expelled from the country after flying in from France and not being allowed to leave the airport as journalists continue to face challenges reporting in Algeria.

Farid Alilat, a writer for the French-language magazine Jeune Afrique, wrote on Facebook that he spent 11 hours in police custody on Saturday at the airport before being boarded onto a plane and sent to France, where he has a residency permit.

Alilat said he regularly takes flights from Paris to Algiers to report on Algeria, where he has for years been a well-known journalist due to his work for French-language daily newspapers including Liberté, which was shuttered in 2022 amid financial problems and scuffles with the government and Algeria's state-owned oil company, both of which are major advertisers for the country's newspapers.

In a lengthy post in which he wrote of his deportation as if he were reporting on it, Alilat alleged that police officers on the tarmac in Algiers told him that they were acting on orders “from above.”

He said he was interrogated about his travels, who he has met with and about Jeune Afrique, which Algerian authorities believe favors their neighbor and regional rival, Morocco.

“I completely understand that my articles are a source of irritation. I am a free journalist. I cover the news of my country as a free and independent journalist,” Alilat wrote, noting that he was not given any verbal or written explanation for his expulsion.

He wrote that he had never previously heard of any issues from law enforcement or the courts in Algeria regarding his articles, including during a reporting trip in December 2023

Few Algerian media outlets reported on Alilat's expulsion and few politicians commented on it. Former Communications Minister Abdelaziz Rahabi called it “a measure from another era that serves neither the people nor the government.”

“No one can be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter their own country," he wrote on Facebook.

The episode is the latest instance of Algeria's government restricting journalists from reporting in Algeria and comes while high-profile journalists, including editors Ihsane El Kadi and Mustapha Benjama remain in prison on charges related to using foreign funds to finance journalism and disrupting public order.

The government, however, has also resumed granting authorizations to journalists starting new media outlets or television shows and last year passed a law enshrining new protections for journalists.

Farid Alilat, a writer for the French-language magazine Jeune Afrique poses for photo in Paris, France, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Alilat was expelled from Algeria after flying in from France and not being allowed to leave the airport as journalists continue to face challenges reporting in Algeria. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Farid Alilat, a writer for the French-language magazine Jeune Afrique poses for photo in Paris, France, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Alilat was expelled from Algeria after flying in from France and not being allowed to leave the airport as journalists continue to face challenges reporting in Algeria. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Farid Alilat, a writer for the French-language magazine Jeune Afrique poses for photo in Paris, France, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Alilat was expelled from Algeria after flying in from France and not being allowed to leave the airport as journalists continue to face challenges reporting in Algeria. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)