Prime Minister: we will apply the law against defamation and blackmail voices

Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal Monday appointed members of the Audio-Visual Regulating Authority. He said it is an important phase in the organization and development of national media field.

“Under the command of the President of the Republic, Algeria experiences a permanent movement and change in all the fields. It is accompanied by a strong and honest will to open the media and audio-visual field,” said Sellal.

“The law will be strictly applied to protect the rights of journalists and artist and to ensure the respect of the legislation. Any act of defamation, blackmailing and call for violence will be punished,” he added.

He called on the chief of the Regulating Authority Zouaoui Benhamadi to accomplish his mission. “The Authority’s members should the freedom of audio-visual actions, objectivity, impartiality, transparency, national languages promotion and the respect of Algerian community’s values and principles.”

“Algerian TV and radio channels should preserve national unity, the community cohesion and national identity. The government and the Regulating Authority will support all the operators within respect of media and expression freedom,” said Sellal.

“We work for strong, prosper and modern Algeria. We hope that media people and the newly-appointed members of the Regulating Authority would achieve this goal.”

The Audio-Visual Regulating Authority was created by virtue of a law passed by Parliament in 2014. It aims at regulating audio-visual field in Algeria and reinforcing public services. It will ensure the freedom of media profession and the application of laws. It includes nine members appointed by a presidential decree.