This article first appeared on The Media Line.
The world’s longest serving spy chief has been removed from his position as the head of Algeria’s military security agency, the Department for Intelligence and Security (DRS) said. Mohamed Mediene, also known as General Tewfiq, was responsible for restrictions imposed on the country’s media and banned all local outlets from using his name or attempting to photograph him during his twenty-five year tenure.
Mediene was replaced in September as part of a series of reshuffles aimed at reducing the political involvement of the DRS. Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika appointed General Athmane Tartag, an officer with a background in counter-terrorism operations, to replace the long serving spy chief.
Some political experts believed that “the downfall of Mediene could breathe new life into Algeria's politics,” as the Soviet KGB-trained security chief was widely feared by local media professionals.
However journalists in Algeria are sceptical that Mediene’s replacement will be any more welcoming towards press freedoms.
First to lose out to the switch in leadership will be individuals in the press who enjoyed close connections with Mediene, a journalist working for one of the country’s bestselling publications, told The Media Line. “Outlets and mainstream media that had the support of a certain group of people (and who were) close to this intelligence department will, for sure, lose access they used to have,” the journalist, who wished not to be identified, said.
“Since they no longer have their privileges, as they had for decades, everything will change as they no longer have guarantees that allow them to exist on the country’s media market,” the journalist concluded.
The leadership shuffle comes two years into an attempt by President Bouteflika to curb the power of the DRS and its head, who at times in the past acted as a kingmaker to Algerian political struggles. The removal of Mediene was seen as necessary for President Bouteflika, who is believed to be approaching the end of his political life, to appoint his successor. Mediene supported Bouteflika’s rule during his first three terms in office but the two men became estranged in the president’s fourth term. This led to a behind the scenes power struggle, which now appears to have come to a close with Mediene’s dismissal.
However a change to the countries spy-chief does not necessarily mean a change in policy towards the media.
Algeria’s government has no interest in seeing a free press established, Nassim Merouani, a journalist who asked that his foreign news agency employer not to be identified, told The Media Line. A combination of state ownership and privileged access in exchange for favourable coverage has often been sufficient to achieve this effect, Merouani suggested.
All radio and television channels have been owned by the government since Algeria’s independence in 1962. This changed in 2014, as a new audio-visual law was adopted, enabling more than 40 new private television channels to open. All these TV channels are “offshore”, broadcasting from abroad, mainly from within the Middle East. To date, radio channels continue to be broadcast exclusively by the government.
The country has more than 130 newspapers published in French and Arabic, in addition to dozens of online publications. However, there is no newspaper published in Algeria.
Despite a recent reduction in censorship, Algeria continues to be known for a lack of press freedom. Reporters without Borders ranked the country 119th out of 180 states in its 2015 World Press Freedom Index.
In April of this year the media watch dog criticised “the latest cases of censorship in Algeria,” following the suspension of a popular satirical television show for “repeated excesses” and the “attacking (of) state symbols.” In the same month authorities also briefly arrested a cartoonist accused of “defaming and attacking the president.”
Such actions quickly lead to self-censorship, Merouani explained. “In reality, journalists, including myself, are in the process of self-censorship as we know that there are some things that will not be published,” the journalist said. “Barriers are, first, made by the story’s author, then the newspaper’s editor-in-chief intervenes. Everyone sets their own limits according to their level,” he concluded.
Media owners reached for comment by The Media Line declined to respond.
Irrespective of changes in the internal structure of Algeria’s military, the state’s propensity towards curtailing freedom of the press and freedom of expression are set to continue for some time, Merouani concluded.
