Prominent journalist arrested

An Algerian journalist from a local French-language newspaper has been remanded in custody, accused of belonging to a terrorist organisation and spreading false information. A judge in the Sidi M'hamed district of Algiers ordered Liberte journalist Mohamed Mouloudj to be placed in provisional detention, the National Committee for the Release of Detainees confirmed. A report on the News24 site notes that his lawyer Abdelghani Badi said Mouloudj was accused of ‘undermining national unity, belonging to a terrorist organisation and spreading false information’. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly accused Algerian authorities of resorting to criminal prosecutions against journalists and others using vaguely worded offences in the penal code. Six other people arrested in the same case were also remanded in custody, the committee said.

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