Archive: algeria

27th February 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
The killing of Ali Tounsi, chief of the Algerian police, has been reported briefly in the international media. He is officially said to have been shot dead in his office by a colleague in a fit of madness. His alleged assailant – named in the Algerian press as Choaïb Oultache – had worked with… Read more
4th January 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
Following the introduction of internet censorship in Algeria (reported here last weekend), an online petition has been organised to oppose it. The petition, which is in Arabic, French and English, says: We, the undersigned, individuals and organisations, oppose the Algerian government's attempt at… Read more
20th December 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
Algeria is planning to introduce a centralised system for filtering (i.e. censoring) the internet. It is also proposing stiff penalties for anyone who circumvents the government's filtering, according to the Magharebia news website. Algeria is one of the few Arab countries (along with Egypt and … Read more
9th October 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
Algerian journalist and rights activist Hafnaoui Ghoul is due in court on Tuesday, accused of criminal defamation over an article that talked about corruption and maladministration in Djelfa province. This is just one of 16 lawsuits against Ghoul – all of them brought by local officials and all "… Read more
25th September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
Three-quarters of web users in Algeria regard the internet as "indispensable", more than 90% of them go online at least once a day and on average they spend one to two hours a day in front of the screen.  These are some of the findings from a survey of almost 6,000 Algerian internet users. (The… Read more
31st July 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
Violence seems to be on the increase in Algeria again. Reuters reports that at least 14 soldiers were killed in an ambush on Wednesday. (Other reports give a death toll ranging from 11 to 20). "The past two months have seen an upsurge in the violence," Reuters says. "Insurgents killed 18… Read more