The above, a journalist with the daily newspaper La Tribune, was arrested on 4 July 1996 for a drawing of the Algerian flag published in La Tribune. He was charged under Article 160 bis of the Algerian Penal Code, which provides for five to 10 years’ imprisonment for anyone convicted of “publicly and deliberately destroying, mutilating or profaning the national emblem”. AI considers him to be a prisoner of conscience and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
