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The price of truth in Algeria
10/01/2001 15:19 - (SA)
Algiers - Several hundred Algerian journalists, intellectuals and victims of Islamic terror protested on Wednesday in Algiers against a court case in which a former terror boss has filed a defamation suit against a journalist.
Ali Djerri, journalist and publisher of El Khabar, had described
the leader of the Army of Islamic Salvation (AIS), Ahmed Benaicha,
in an article as a "terrorist" although he has been pardoned by
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
El Khabar, with a circulation of 400 000, is the largest Algerian daily newspaper.
In terms of the presidential amnesty all members of terror
organisations were offered freedom from prosecution, given back all
their civil rights and had their court files with records of terror
acts destroyed.
The AIS has been responsible for several hundred murders of civilians and security force members. Among the victims were dozens
of journalists and intellectuals seen as "enemies of Islam".
The amnesty ruling has been criticised after the number of terror acts increased substantially in recent months. During the fasting month of Ramadan in December some 300 Algerians were murdered. - Sapa-DPA
- SAPA
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