Friday, 21 November 2025
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Algeria's persecution of poet Mohamed Tadjadit must end

In Algeria a young poet languishes in jail threatened with the death penalty. His name is Mohamed Tadjadit and he was announced on Wednesday as our 2025 Freedom of Expression Arts Award winner ([link removed]) .

Tadjadit, 31, was catapulted to prominence during Algeria’s Hirak (which translates in English as movement), the mass uprising that began in 2019 in opposition to Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s bid for a fifth presidential term. At the time Tadjadit was working as a fruit seller in Algiers. Then, as millions peacefully filled the streets demanding democratic change and accountability, Tadjadit stood among them, reciting poetry publicly. He shared his work in darija (Algerian Arabic). His words were raw and rooted in social reality and they became a rallying cry for a people striving for freedom. Tadjadit gained a moniker – the “poet of the Hirak” – and emerged as one of the most recognisable artists of the movement.

But the Hirak didn’t last. While the movement was initially distinguished by both its persistence and its scale ([link removed]) , it was paused during the global pandemic and then crushed by the state: Algerian authorities embarked on a coordinated campaign of arrests and repression. And amongst those they turned on was Tadjadit. Between 2019 and 2025, he was imprisoned at least six times. Last January he was sentenced to five years; on appeal, this was reduced to one. Then, on 11 November this year, he received another five-year sentence on a new set of charges. At a trial scheduled for 30 November, he faces an additional charge that carries the death penalty. He’s now on hunger strike.

It’s never easy choosing a winner for any of the Index on Censorship awards – everyone on the shortlist, and the longlist too, has done something astonishing. Read about them here ([link removed]) and the report in The Times ([link removed]) whose parent company News UK is a sponsor. But Tadjadit’s case is particularly alarming and urgent, and his persecution is far-reaching: millions in Algeria heard his words and were inspired. That’s why the Algerian authorities want him silenced.

Index was created after Stephen Spender, a poet himself, read a plea in The Times from persecuted Soviet intellectuals. Their message was simple: treat our suffering as your own. We answered the call then, and we answer it now. Tadjadit might be thousands of miles away but his plight still matters, and we’ll do everything we can to end this injustice.

Jemimah Steinfeld

CEO, Index on Censorship


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The awards celebrate those who have had significant impact fighting censorship worldwide ([link removed])

A warning from Hungary – the BBC must stick to its own rules ([link removed])

A Hungarian journalist reminds us of the importance of an impartial public service broadcaster ([link removed])

We live beneath a dark roof: what it means to be an Afghan woman today ([link removed])

One writer believes she will stand, fight and build a brighter, more progressive Afghanistan ([link removed])

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** New report: From Survivor to Defendant
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A new report, From Survivor to Defendant: How the law is being weaponised to silence victims of sexual violence, by Index on Censorship reveals how survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the UK and Ireland are being silenced through abusive legal actions known as strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs).
READ THE REPORT ([link removed])


** In case you missed it
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President Trump resorts to name-calling

Hounded by questions relating to the release of the Epstein files this week, President Donald Trump has dropped the façade of professionalism and taken the tone down a notch.

“Quiet, piggy,” ([link removed]) Trump said to a female reporter following a question about the files. This isn’t the only jab at a journalist made by the president this week however, with Trump defending the Saudi crown prince at a meeting after a question about murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was killed and dismembered in the Saudi embassy in Turkey. Trump said: “You're mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happened."

Australian in Thailand sued by Myanmar

Australian journalist Murray Hunter, faces charges of defamation ([link removed]) following a series of posts on his Substack in 2024 where he criticised the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the country’s internet regulation.

Murray, who holds Australian citizenship and is based in Thailand, was arrested in Bangkok following pressure by Malaysia who have filed a criminal charge against him. Murray faces a US$6,000 fine if convicted. He described the action as a “transnational SLAPP”.

Church of England school bans song about demons

The acting headteacher at a Church of England infant school in Dorset, England, has defended his decision to ban ([link removed]) a song from the children's movie KPop Demon Hunters this week, stating that mentions of demons in the song made some members of the community “uncomfortable”.


** Flashback
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There’s nothing new about fake news: It might be a new term, but the mechanisms of fake news have been in place in Belarus for decades ([link removed])

by Andrei Aliaksandrau ([link removed])

Volume 46, Issue 2 ([link removed])

When Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya accepted the Trustee award at Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards this week, she dedicated it “to all Belarusians who have sacrificed their freedom to speak the truth”. Including Index’s former colleague Andrei Aliaksandrau who remains behind bars.

In honour of his work, this week we look back on an article written by Aliaksandrau in 2017 on fake news in Belarus. Index on Censorship continue to call for his immediate release. Read more here. ([link removed])


** Support our work
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The world is becoming more authoritarian and our work calling out human rights abuses and promoting freedom of expression in countries such as Algeria, Afghanistan and the UK has never been more important.

By supporting Index on Censorship today, you can help us in our work with censored artists, jailed musicians, journalists under threat and dissidents facing torture or worse.

Please donate today ([link removed])

Photos by: (Mohamed Tadjadit) courtesy of his family; (Andrei Aliaksandrau) Andrei Aliaksandrau

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