Arezki Aït Larbi on bail

Arrested last Thursday in Algiers airport, while he was on the point of joining the French capital, the journalist Arezki Aït Larbi, correspondent of the French newspaper Le Figaro, was presented yesterday in front of the public prosecutor, then in front of the magistrates’ court.

This last granted him a bail and decided to defer the lawsuit to next Wednesday. A lawsuit which got out from nowhere and which sends back the court to a classified case ten years ago. Indeed, the arrest of our fellow-member occurred in the context of a lawsuit which was never held. The facts go up to December 1997, when, following a complaint deposited in 1994 by the ministry of Justice for slandering, Arezki Aït Larbi was condemned by default to six months of firm prison. This judgement has never been notified and the journalist has never taken note of this decision of court.

For ten years, the correspondent has made outward journeys and returns between Algiers and other cities of the world, without being worried. It is only on May 2006 that the journalist took note of the matter, following the refusal of the public authorities to renew his passport for him. Yesterday, the condemned emptied his warrant for arrest so that he can profit from a bail. Only the risk is always there. The judgment for six months of firm prison can be confirmed this Wednesday, ten years after the first judgement. According to indiscretions, the reappearance of this case is indeed related to the last articles written by the correspondent of Le Figaro on the Khalifa’s case. His articles which do not make any allegiance to the political regime in place would not have been appreciated by this last. Once more, the Algerian justice throws discredit upon its capacities of transparency and independence, which, apparently, remain very limited.

Written by : Rosa Mansouri

Source: Le Soir d’Algérie - April 29, 2007

Translated from French by D. Messaoudi