22/03/2024
🔴 National campaign for the release of 228 prisoners of conscience
🔴 Ihsane El Kadi, the journalist who refused to bow down
Ihsane El Kadi was born on 27 April 1959 in Tripoli, Libya, where his father, Bachir El Kadi, was involved in transporting arms to Algeria on behalf of the National Liberation Front (FLN) during the 1954-1962 war. The El Kadi family moved back to Algiers and Ihsane began studying economics at the University of Algiers. He was active in the Groupe Communiste Révolutionnaire (GCR), an underground Trotskyist movement founded by trade unionists and students. In 1981, aged 22, Ihsane was arrested in the wake of the repression of the Berber Spring and held for nine months in El Harrach prison, where he is being incarcerated 42 years later. Ihsane began his career as a sports journalist with the public radio station Chaîne 3. He then joined the staff of the daily newspaper Horizons, where he was appointed as the union representative on behalf of the newspaper's workers. In the 1990s, he became editor-in-chief of the daily La Tribune.
During this bloody and repressive period (90s), he defended a professional and exemplary editorial line, a position that was too difficult to maintain. It forced him to leave the newspaper in 1996. From then on, Ihsane embarked on a long career as a freelance journalist. In July 2007, he helped set up the international financial magazine Les Afriques. Two years later, he launched with a group of Algerian journalists, Maghreb Émergent, an electronic economic newspaper, followed by the independent web radio, Radio M. Ihsane El Kadi is a key figure in the Algerian media landscape, renowned for his courage and hard work. During the Hirak, Radio M became a forum where all Algerian voices, including marginalized ones, were invited to express themselves publicly and freely. Radio M produced hundreds of programmes on various topics, including the Hirak, the state of freedom and Algeria’s democratic potential.
From 2020 to 2022, Ihsane El Kadi came under constant pressure from the security services. He was asked to lessen the tone of his media, articles and tweets. Ihsane resisted and did not bend. On the night of 24 December 2022, security officers went to his home and took him to the "Antar" caserne, a notorious intelligence service facility, where he was arbitrarily detained for five days. On 29 December, Ihsane was remanded in custody and accused of, among other things, "receiving foreign funds and benefits" without any proof. In reality, the financial transaction was a contribution from his daughter, who lives in London and is a shareholder in Interface Media. The prosecution turned this into a charge against him. In April 2023, he was sentenced at first instance to five years' imprisonment, three of which were suspended. The sentence was increased on appeal to seven years (five years firm). The Supreme Court rejected the appeal in October 2023, closing the door on legal recourses. On 27 April 2024, Ihsane will celebrate his 65th birthday in El Harrach prison.
