Broadcast journalists in Algeria protest censorship

By Hassan Jebril</p> <p>ALGIERS (AA) – Journalists at Algeria’s state-run radio agency staged a sit-in at the agency’s headquarters to protest a ban on covering rallies against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s planned bid for a fifth term in office.</p> <p>More that 150 journalists on Tuesday gathered outside the agency’s headquarters in Algiers, where they chanted slogans against media censorship and demanded the right to free expression.</p> <p>Last Friday, Algerians demonstrated in several cities, including the capital, to protest Bouteflika’s stated intention to contest presidential elections slated for April 18.</p> <p>According to local media reports, demonstrations were reported in a number of provinces, including Annaba, Setif, Kalime, Jijel, Bejaia,Tizi Ouzou, Buira, Bumerdas, Tiaret, Relizane, Vahran and Ouargla.</p> <p>Some demonstrators chanted slogans against Bouteflika’s planned bid for a fifth term; others explicitly called for the overthrow of his regime.</p> <p>Earlier this month, Algeria’s ruling National Liberation Front officially nominated the 81-year-old Bouteflika — who has ruled Algeria since 1999 — to run in the upcoming poll.</p> <p>Opposition leaders, for their part, have repeatedly urged the aging head of state — who in 2013 was treated for a blood clot in the brain — to refrain from contesting the presidential election.