Algeria seeks 18 months' jail for journalist for 'defamation' Tue 16th March 2021 | 05:40 PM Algiers, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Mar, 2021 ) :Prosecutors in Algeria are seeking an 18-month prison sentence for a journalist on charges including defamation, a penalty Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has slammed as "disproportionate". The communications ministry has accused Abdelhakim Setouane, editor-in-chief of Arabic-language newssite Essafir Broadcast, of "defamation", "invasion of privacy", "journalistic blackmail" and "publishing malicious information". The accusations stem from an article alleging the speaker of the lower house of parliament was having an extra-marital affair, the media rights group said Monday. The court in Sidi M'hamed on Monday sought 18 months in jail for Setouane, who has been in custody since October 20.