In July 2016, when Mohamed Tamalt, an independent journalist was sentenced to two years in prison, for defaming the President of Algeria and public institutions, the country’s media was stunned by the decision. The wheels of the regime’s constitutional reform engine had been set into motion. The legal reforms included three progressive articles related to freedom of expression: Article 48 guarantees freedom of speech and association for citizens; Article 50 guarantees freedom of print, audiovisual and online media and states that press offences could not be met with imprisonment; Article 51 introduces a new right, namely the freedom to obtain information, documents and statistics, and to circulate them.
Yet, Tamalt was arrested under criminal law, for expressing his views on public corruption and nepotism on Facebook. Following a hunger strike that he started in prison, he died under unclear circumstances in a hospital, without full access to information about the cause of his death. The courts blatantly violated all three new articles.
Tamalt’s detention and tragic death cast a grim shadow over the effectiveness of legal reforms in guaranteeing freedom of speech and media in Algeria.
