Algerian independent journalist; RSF correspondent and director of Casbah Tribune.
I will continue to be a journalist. There is no other way.HuMENA Editorial
Algerian journalist arrested in 2020 while covering Hirak protests; released by pardon February 2021.
Khaled Drareni is one of Algeria's most prominent independent journalists. He covers the Hirak movement, the post-Bouteflika political transition, and the consolidation of judicial restrictions on the press. He runs Casbah Tribune and reports for Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the French-language broadcaster TV5 Monde.
On 29 March 2020 Drareni was arrested while covering an anti-government demonstration in Algiers. He was charged with "incitement of an unarmed gathering" and "harming national unity". In August 2020 a court sentenced him to three years; an appeal reduced the sentence to two years.
Drareni was released from Koléa prison on 19 February 2021 under a pardon announced by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. His release came three days before the second anniversary of the start of the Hirak protest wave and was seen as a partial concession to mounting international pressure from press-freedom groups, including a "We Are Khaled" campaign and a Paris ring-road billboard of his portrait.
Since his release Drareni has continued to report on Algerian press freedom from a precarious position, with intermittent harassment and surveillance pressure. His case remains the most internationally visible symbol of Algeria's post-Hirak media crackdown.
This case file was compiled by HuMENA's Algeria research team from primary documentation, public filings, family-supplied legal documents, and confidential partner reporting. Editorial responsibility rests with the HuMENA Editorial Board. Where dates or facts are uncertain, the record errs on the side of the source material and notes uncertainty in the live archive at humena.org.
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