By Larbi Arbaoui
Morocco World News
Taroudant, Morocco, May 19, 2013
The two Algerian dailies Monjournal and its Arabic version Djaridati, owned by Hicham Aboud, were banned from publication by the Algerian Ministry of Communications for publishing a story on the “deterioration” of the health condition of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the Algerian president.
According to lequotidienalgerie.org, the Sunday, May 19 issues of the daily Monjournal and Djaridati were seized on Saturday night and banned from publication following a decision by the Algerian Ministry of Communications, who asked the publisher to remove the two pages of each issue devoted to Bouteflika’s health.
“According to our sources, the president departed for Algeria at 3:00 am (0100 GMT) on Wednesday in a coma,” Hicham Aboud, a former soldier who heads the opposition French-language Mon Journal and the Arabic Djaridati, told AFP.
On the decision to suspend the release of the two newspapers, Aboud said to Al Arabiya net, “It is a stupid decision, of course”, and if the reports “were unfounded, the authorities could have published a statement from the president’s personal physician to deny this information, or take us to the court,” he added.
The act of banning a newspaper for an news story dealing with the health of President Bouteflika, despite the significant level of criticism that many newspapers have poked at the government, revealed how critical Boutflika’s health is to the Algerian authorities, which seemed confused and don’t know how to handle information about the president's health.
There is great ambiguity in Algeria about the health of President Bouteflika, despite assurances of government officials and heads of parties close to power, and the latest statement issued by the Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci, in which he said that "the president is fine and will return soon to the country."
Despite the fact that the practical ruling power in Algeria is the military institution since independence, the president of the republic has a significant status and an important role in the balance of power between the three powerful institutions of the country, namely the presidency, the army institution and the Algerian intelligence services.