It’s been 17 months since Algerian journalist, Said Chitour, was imprisoned.
On Saturday morning, some of his family, former colleagues and friends gathered in front of Montreal’s Algerian consulate for a rally on his behalf.
In June of last year, Chitour, a journalist and fixer for Canadian and international media — someone hired by a media company to help arrange and prepare stories — was arrested in Algeria for allegedly “sharing intelligence with a foreign power.”
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His lawyer and family, however, argue the prosecution has no evidence to support the claim.
He has been jailed ever since.
“It’s about freedom of the press,” said Radio-Canada, Enquête journalist Anne Panasuk, who worked with Chitour in Algeria. “We know that journalists like Chitour and those like him are disturbing the government. It’s their jobs. So we have to be there to support them.”
Chitour’s sister, who organized the rally on Saturday, says her brother has three children who miss him dearly.
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“You can’t take a father away from his kids,” said Halia Ferhat.”He’s innocent and I’m not just talking about my brother, I’m talking about all the journalists — they are all fathers. What crime did they commit?”
Ferhat says the only crime her brother committed was being a journalist and exposing the truth.
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