Two year imprisonment for the chief editor of the Algerian 'Le Matin'

One Algerian criminal court yesterday sentenced two- year imprisonment for the director of the Algerian French language "Le Matin" daily, Muhammad Bin Chico, after he was condemned of breaching currency exchange laws.

The attorney general demanded five year imprisonment against Bin Chico, who was brought before the court under a complaint raised by the ministry of finance " under the change of violating laws of running the exchange of currency and capitals transfer as " financial shares documents were found in his luggage in Algiers' capital in August 2003.

Bin Chico accused the minister of the Interior Yazid al-Darhouni that he had fabricated the case after the paper had disclosed his involvement in a case of mistreating one person. Bin Chico had also composed a critical book against the Algerian President Abdul Aziz Butaflika under the title " Butaflika is an Algerian lie."

The Algerian judiciary several days ago issued a two-months imprisonment and a fee of 10,000 Algerian dinars ( USD 140) against the Algerian journalist Bin Amer Hifnawi Gul who is detained since May 24.

Gul was held in Jalfeh prison following a complaint submitted by the governor of al-Jalfeh and the director of the health department in this city after this journalist disclosed violations committed by rich and influential people in the area.

Gul also disclosed, in his capacity as the local official for the Algerian league in defense of human rights the issue of the death of 13 infants in a hospital in the said city.