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Algerian businessman and owner of Freedom, Issad Rebrab made it official on Wednesday April 6 during a general meeting. In question, according to the majority shareholder, economic reasons and the lack of profitability.
He was due to celebrate his 30th birthday next June. But the edition of next April 14 will indeed be the last. The newspaper Freedom closes in a week.
Editor-in-chief Hacen Ouali is stunned by the newspaper’s closure. ” It’s incomprehensible, it’s hopeless. It’s 30 years of fight, struggle, freedoms erased in a second “, he laments.
Founded in 1992, at the beginning of the civil war, Freedom has always defended an editorial line that is critical of political power, even if it means disturbing, as recently, when Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune accused the newspaper of “ demoralize the Algerians after an article on the food shortage that threatens the country.
The economic motive does not convince
The reasons for the closure remain mysterious. One thing is certain, the economic motive does not convince. ” There is no financial difficulty. The newspaper is not rich, but it is not in a situation of bankruptcy “says Hacen Ouali.
But, unofficially, the owner Issad Rebrab is preparing to retire, according to Karim Benamar, journalist at Freedom. « He is 78 years old, he is tired. It would seem that the businessman wants to put his affairs in order before bequeathing them to his sons “, he confides.
There remain the political reasons: regularly disturbed by the authorities, Algeria’s wealthiest man was imprisoned in 2019 for financial offence. According to other editorial journalists, he would seek to be discreet by getting rid of his daily newspaper, which is a little too critical of the government.