Algerian authorities have arrested prominent independent journalist Ihsane El-Kadi and shut down his Radio M internet station, which was seen as the last remaining space for free political debate in the country.
El-Kadi was arrested in the early hours of Saturday by six plainclothes police officers at his home in a village east of the capital Algiers, according to family members. He was later taken in shackles to the offices of Radio M in the capital, where police removed computers, cameras and other equipment before sealing off the premises.
“Radio M and its sister Maghreb Emergent website was basically the last remaining media space where people could still discuss politics and publish critical articles without censoring themselves,” said Daikha Dridi, an Algerian journalist who once worked at the station. “The web radio had many programmes in which people could come together and debate freely what is happening in the country.”