ALGIERS: Algerian journalist Belkacem Djir, sentenced to three years’ jail in a common law case, was acquitted Wednesday and is expected to be released after over a year behind bars, his lawyer said.
“The Algiers court has announced that journalist Belkacem Djir has been acquitted,” Fatiha Rouibi wrote on Facebook.
Djir had been accused of using a “false identity” and “blackmail.”
No other information was available on the case against him, with lawyers refusing to discuss it publicly while acknowledging privately that his case was “sensitive.”
Djir, a 34-year-old journalist for private television channel Echourouk News, was detained in July 2019.
He is one of several Algerian journalists currently in prison.
They include Khaled Drareni, Casbah Tribune news website editor and correspondent for French-language TV5 Monde, and Abdelkrim Zeghileche, head of a web-based radio station.
They are being prosecuted in cases linked to “Hirak,” the anti-regime protest movement that began in February 2019.
Drareni was on September 15 handed a two-year jail sentence for his coverage of the movement that toppled Algeria’s longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika last year.
Zeghileche was sentenced in late August to two years in prison for “undermining national unity” and “insulting the head of state.”
A total of 61 people are currently behind bars for acts related to “Hirak,” according to CNLD, a rights group that lists prisoners of conscience in Algeria.
Algeria journalist acquitted after year in detention
https://arab.news/nnrrm
Algeria journalist acquitted after year in detention
Tucker Carlson claims he was detained at Israeli airport
DUBAI: Earlier this week, Tucker Carlson flew to Israel to interview US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, according to media reports.
Carlson, who reportedly refused to leave Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport complex, conducted the interview at the airport, after which he said he and his staff were detained and their passports were seized.
“Men who identified themselves as airport security took our passports, hauled our executive producer into a side room and then demanded to know what we spoke to Ambassador Huckabee about,” Carlson said in a statement to The New York Post.
However, Carlson’s claims have been contradicted by Huckabee and Israeli authorities.
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and Fox News host, said on social media platform X that “EVERYONE who comes in/out of Israel (every country for that matter) has passports checked & routinely asked security questions,” including himself, despite holding a diplomatic passport and visa.
Thanks @EFischberger for a more accurate report. EVERYONE who comes in/out of Israel (every country for that matter) has passports checked & routinely asked security questions. Even ME going in/out with Diplomatic Passport & Diplomatic Visa. https://t.co/UbblLiznMO
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) February 18, 2026
The US Embassy in Israel also described the interaction as routine passport control procedures.
The Israel Airports Authority said in a statement that Carlson and his staff “were not detained, delayed, or interrogated.”
They were asked “a few routine questions, in accordance with standard procedures applied to many travelers,” and this conversation took place in a separate room within the VIP lounge to protect their privacy, the statement added.
“No unusual incident occurred, and the Israel Airports Authority firmly rejects any other claims.”
Israeli Airports Authority:
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) February 18, 2026
Contrary to the reports, Tucker Carlson and his entourage were not detained, delayed, or interrogated.
Mr. Carlson and his party were politely asked a few routine questions, in accordance with standard procedures applied to many travelers.
The…
Carlson has faced criticism in recent years over his commentary on Israel, with critics accusing him of amplifying narratives that are hostile to Israel and, at times, antisemitic. He has also questioned Israel’s treatment of Christian communities in the region.
After Fox News canceled his show in April 2023, he launched his own program, “The Tucker Carlson Show” in 2024.
The show has featured controversial figures, including Darryl Cooper, who has made statements widely condemned as Holocaust denial, and white nationalist commentator Nick Fuentes.
In his interview with Fuentes, Carlson labeled Huckabee a “Christian Zionist.”
Carlson has also criticized Huckabee for not doing enough to protect Christian interests in the region. In one video, he said: “Why not go ahead and talk to Christians and find out their side of the story? Why aren’t American Christian leaders like Mike Huckabee or Ted Cruz, people who invoke the Christian Bible to justify what they’re doing, why haven’t they done this?”
Huckabee responded to the video on X, writing: “Instead of talking ABOUT me, why don’t you come talk TO me? You seem to be generating a lot of heat about the Middle East. Why be afraid of the light?”
Carlson accepted the invitation, and their teams coordinated the interview, leading to his brief visit to Israel.
