US embassy cable - 05ALGIERS2114

UNCLAS ALGIERS 002114 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, KMPI, AG, Press Freedom 
SUBJECT: REPORTERS SANS FRONTIERES SOUNDS ALARM ON 
BENCHICOU'S WORSENING HEALTH 
 
REF: ALGIERS 1958 (NOTAL) 
 
1.  Portions of this cable are sensitive but unclassified. 
Please protect accordingly. 
 
2.  (U) The health condition of Mohamed Benchicou, 
editor-in-chief of the now-defunct French-language daily Le 
Matin, who was sentenced to two years imprisonment June 14, 
2004 for having illegally transferred bonds to France, has 
worsened significantly over the last month, according to 
various sources, including Reporters Sans Frontieres.  Having 
long suffered from osteoarthritis on the right side, 
Benchicou was denied permission for a necessary medical 
treatment early this year, and his condition has dramatically 
worsened as a result, according to Saad Lounes, a journalist 
who visited him in prison October 10. 
 
3.  (U) Benchicou, according to his physicians (as 
communicated by his lawyers), requires surgery to relieve the 
pressure on a nerve pinched between two vertebra.  Reporters 
Sans Frontieres issued a statement October 14 calling for a 
medical exam for Benchicou by an independent NGO and asked 
the International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene on 
his behalf. 
 
4.  (SBU) According to Benchicou's lawyers, who spoke with us 
October 15, Benchicou is learning how to use his left hand 
for everything.  He has been unable to hold a pen for months, 
and opening a lid with his right hand causes him intense 
pain.  Benchicou's lawyers made a point of telling us that 
Benchicou does not want a presidential pardon as part of the 
recently passed referendum on national reconciliation since 
he is not a terrorist.  His lawyers also confirmed that 
Benchicou's condition has considerably worsened since the 
beginning of September.  Although Benchicou is imprisoned for 
currency violations, he and the journalist community maintain 
those charges were a cover to terminate his propaganda 
campaign against the President. 
 
SIEVERS