Paris - The press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders Wednesday strongly criticized the Algerian government's decision to ban three French publications in the run-up to Thursday's election.

"This censorship is disgraceful," the group said in a statement about the repression of the current issues of the weeklies L'Express, Marianne and Le Journal du Dimanche.

The ban "constitutes a denial of press freedom and therefore a denial of democracy," the organization said.

"Such measures unfortunately recur with some regularity in present-day Algeria. It is time the authorities allowed the country's citizens to have access to free and independent news and information."

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is almost certain to win an unprecedented third term in Thursday's vote. He is opposed by five candidates with only marginal followings.

The latest issue of L'Express, which contains an article titled Abdelaziz and his People, was confiscated under an article of the Algerian news media law that forbids any publication from publishing "any illustration, account, information or insert which is contrary to Islamic morality, national values or human rights, or which condones racism, fanaticism or treason."

The latest issue of Marianne contained a story titled Bouteflika, the Last Sultan, while the offending article in Journal du Dimanche was headlined Algerians in France Vote, Poll Despair. (dpa)