In a normal country, Salima Ghezali's achievements would be a source of national pride. But in Algeria, Ms Ghezali (39), the editor of the weekly La Nation is more reviled than praised. The only woman newspaper editor in the Arab world has lost track of the international journalism awards she has won. On October 23rd - the day the Algerian regime staged its dubious local elections - the European Parliament awarded her the Sakharov Prize for her fight for human rights and press freedom in Algeria. Previous winners include Nelson Mandela and the Chinese dissident, Wei Jingsheng.
Predictably, no one from the Algerian government congratulated Ms Ghezali. Nor was there any sign that La Nation, suspended on a financial pretext for the past 10 months, might reappear soon. "I am certainly the only journalist who wins a prize without a newspaper," she says with a laugh.
Ms Ghezali is a rare voice of reason in Algeria. She does not belong to any political party, but describes herself as a dialoguiste, a proponent of a negotiated settlement in the 5 1/2-year civil war. A secular opponent of the Algerian regime dismissed her to me as "one of those intellectuals who wants to give our country to the fundamentalists".
"Every time I win a prize," Ms Ghezali says, "someone sends anonymous faxes to the people giving the award, saying I am an accomplice of the GIA [Armed Islamic Group]. These are the vulgar methods of our security services. "It's very perverse here: I have never been called in by the authorities. People go to see friends of friends, and they say: `one day they'll find her body in a ditch with her throat slashed'."
After La Nation was suspended, Ms Ghezali and her staff continued to prepare dummy issues they knew would never be printed. "Then it became too frustrating," she says. "We haven't lost hope. We do articles on the Internet with Reporters Without Borders. I write for newspapers in Switzerland, Belgium, Italy and Spain."
The Sakharov Prize brings a cash a ward of 15,000 ecus (£11,360); she says awards give her the "breathing space" to continue.
La Nation is the only Algerian newspaper that attempted to cover rights abuses by the government. An issue devoted to detention camps and "disappeared" people (people kidnapped by the security forces) was stopped at the presses last year. To the rage of the government, Le Monde Diplomatique published it in full.
Another issue with an article accusing the government of "throwing oil on the fire" by arming militias, was blocked three times before Ms Ghezali obtained an explanation from the interior ministry. "They said we were `troubling the general quietude' and `attacking the honour of peaceful, patriotic citizens who were only defending themselves'."
Extremists in the military are in a sense the allies of the most radical fundamentalists, Ms Ghezali says. By refusing all compromise, both sides push the country towards an even greater explosion. "Some of the people in power have taken the road of no return," she says. "I consider that the military - part of the hierarchy, not the poor conscripts, but certain generals - bears most of the responsibility for what is happening in this country."
Rigged elections have destroyed any faith Algerians might have placed in the country's muchtrumpeted democratisation. "The population realise it is no longer possible to channel discontent through the parties that function in the present system," she says. "A tiny percentage react by allying themselves with the militias and [President Zeroual's party] the RND. The majority are hostages to violence - whether from Islamists or the security forces. "By disqualifying the traditional channels of mediation - that is to say political parties and trade unions - those in power took this country an enormous step backward. It leads to one question: when will people react? In the long term, there must be a break with the status quo. I do not not wish it, because it will be violent and very costly."
The revolt of Algeria's noncombatants may have already started; last week's poll inspired a new campaign of civil disobedience. More than 10,000 civilians marched across the capital on Monday, chanting "thieves, cheaters, murderous government". Another march is scheduled for tomorrow.