Reporters protest muzzle on Algeria president’s 5th term bid

ALGIERS, Algeria – Police have arrested a handful of journalists during a demonstration by reporters in Algiers to denounce their media outlets’ refusal to let them cover demonstrations against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s bid for a fifth term.

Dozens of journalists called for a “free and democratic press” at Thursday’s protest or “no to the criminalization of journalists.”

The chief editor of state-run Radio 3, Meriem Abdou resigned after huge Feb. 22 protests in disagreement with her station’s refusal to allow coverage of demonstrations that have brought tens of thousands into the streets around Algeria this week.

Police, part of a massive security presence at the small protest, moved in to detain several people after attempts to march down a boulevard from Freedom of the Press Square. The number of those detained wasn’t immediately known.