Khaled
Drareni
Algerian journalist arrested in 2020 while covering Hirak protests; released by pardon February 2021. On retrial in March 2022 his sentence was reduced to six months suspended.
- Country
- Algeria
- Role
- Journalist
- Arrested
- 29 Mar 2020
- Sentence
- Six months suspended and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars (retrial, Algiers appeal court, 3 March 2022); the earlier two-year term was quashed. Freed by presidential pardon on 19 February 2021.
- Status
- At liberty
- Arrested
- 29 Mar 2020
- Sentence
- Six months suspended and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars (retrial, Algiers appeal court, 3 March 2022); the earlier two-year term was quashed. Freed by presidential pardon on 19 February 2021.
- Judicial status
- Convicted, not final
- Name in Arabic
- خالد درارني
- Charges
- Incitement of an unarmed gathering
- Harming national unity
The arrest, and what followed.
Background and work
Khaled Drareni is one of Algeria's most prominent independent journalists. He covers the Hirak movement, the post-Bouteflika political transition, and the consolidation of judicial restrictions on the press. He founded Casbah Tribune, was a correspondent for Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the French-language broadcaster TV5 Monde, and in April 2022 became RSF's representative for North Africa.
Arrest and conviction
On 7 March 2020 Drareni was arrested while covering a Hirak march in Algiers, held for three days and placed under judicial control. On 29 March 2020, two days after the judicial control was revoked, he was arrested again while covering a protest and jailed in Koléa. He was charged with "incitement of an unarmed gathering" and "harming national unity". In August 2020 a court sentenced him to three years; an appeal reduced the sentence to two years. On 25 March 2021 the Supreme Court accepted his cassation appeal and ordered a retrial, and on 3 March 2022 the Algiers appeal court reduced the sentence to six months suspended with a fine of 50,000 dinars.
Release
Drareni was released from Koléa prison on 19 February 2021 under a pardon announced by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. His release came three days before the second anniversary of the start of the Hirak protest wave and was seen as a partial concession to mounting international pressure from press-freedom groups, including a "We Are Khaled" campaign and a Paris ring-road billboard of his portrait.
After prison
Since his release Drareni has continued to work on press freedom in Algeria. In April 2022 Reporters Without Borders appointed him its representative for North Africa. His case remains the most internationally visible symbol of Algeria's post-Hirak media crackdown.