![Algeria Bouteflika [AFP/Getty]](https://www.newarab.com/sites/default/files/media/images/4C5CFB73-188C-434B-8B53-8D5B2C7E85F7.jpg "Algeria Bouteflika [AFP/Getty]")
Algeria closes TV station over ‘subversive’ interview
Algeria closes TV station over ‘subversive’ interview
Authorities have closed the Algerian office of London-based TV channel on Monday after it broadcast an interview with the former head of the Islamic Salvation Front.
2 min read
Mezrag directly criticised Algeria's president Bouteflika [Getty/AFP]
Algeria on Monday ordered the closure of a private television station after it broadcast an interview with an Islamist figure accused of "subversive" remarks, the communications ministry said.
The decision came after El Watan TV broadcast an interview on 3 October with Madani Mezrag, the former head of the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS), the armed wing of the banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS).
In the interview, Mezrag spoke of his plans to set up a political party and criticised President Abdelaziz Bouteflika for rejecting his initiative.
"If he (the president) does not review his position, he will hear from me what he has never heard before," Mezrag said in the interview.
"The man who gives me orders hasn't yet been born." Mezrag continued.
"Subversive remarks"
A source at the communications ministry said El Watan was being shut over "subversive remarks and attacks against the symbol of the State" - an apparent reference to the veteran leader.
The source said that Communications Minister Hamid Grine has asked the governor of Algiers to take the necessary steps to close down El Watan.
"This chain is not authorised to work in Algeria, where it has no official accreditation," said the source.
El Watan TV is based in London and broadcasts from the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, although it has offices in Algiers, where it employs 170 people.
Police forced the 171 staff to leave the TV station’s Algiers office.
Owner Dfajar Chelli told AFP he would appeal the decision.
More than 40 private television channels work out of Algeria but only five have official accreditation, according to the communications ministry. Others are tolerated by authorities.
"El Watan has stepped over the line of tolerance," the ministry source said.
Mezrag's Islamic Salvation Army was formed during the North African nation's "black decade" in the 1990s, triggered by a ban on the FIS which was poised to win legislative elections. Ensuing violence between security forces and Islamic insurgents left an estimated 200,000 people dead.
In 1997, Mezrag cut a deal with the army that allowed thousands of ISA members to be pardoned after laying down their weapons. Other Islamist leaders also benefited from the agreement.
The decision came after El Watan TV broadcast an interview on 3 October with Madani Mezrag, the former head of the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS), the armed wing of the banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS).
In the interview, Mezrag spoke of his plans to set up a political party and criticised President Abdelaziz Bouteflika for rejecting his initiative.
"If he (the president) does not review his position, he will hear from me what he has never heard before," Mezrag said in the interview.
"The man who gives me orders hasn't yet been born." Mezrag continued.
"Subversive remarks"
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Mezrag spoke of his plans to set up a political party and criticised President Abdelaziz Bouteflika for rejecting his initiative |
The source said that Communications Minister Hamid Grine has asked the governor of Algiers to take the necessary steps to close down El Watan.
"This chain is not authorised to work in Algeria, where it has no official accreditation," said the source.
El Watan TV is based in London and broadcasts from the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, although it has offices in Algiers, where it employs 170 people.
Police forced the 171 staff to leave the TV station’s Algiers office.
Owner Dfajar Chelli told AFP he would appeal the decision.
More than 40 private television channels work out of Algeria but only five have official accreditation, according to the communications ministry. Others are tolerated by authorities.
"El Watan has stepped over the line of tolerance," the ministry source said.
Mezrag's Islamic Salvation Army was formed during the North African nation's "black decade" in the 1990s, triggered by a ban on the FIS which was poised to win legislative elections. Ensuing violence between security forces and Islamic insurgents left an estimated 200,000 people dead.
In 1997, Mezrag cut a deal with the army that allowed thousands of ISA members to be pardoned after laying down their weapons. Other Islamist leaders also benefited from the agreement.
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