An express round trip. This is how we could sum up the day of Thursday for Algerian influencer Boualem N., nicknamed “Doualemn” on social networks. This 59-year-old man was deported at the beginning of the afternoon to Algeria where he came from but the country refused to welcome him, specifying that he was “inadmissible”. Result: he went the opposite way in the evening.
Upon his arrival in France, he was taken to the administrative detention center (CRA) of Mesnil-Amelot, in Seine-et-Marne. “Algeria is seeking to humiliate France,” said Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau this Friday on the sidelines of a trip to Nantes. A look back at this diplomatic-judicial imbroglio in three acts.
Act I: The dissonant analysis of the prosecution and the prefecture
Everything happened extremely quickly on this file. Doualemn was arrested on Sunday in Montpellier, accused of having published a video on TikTok calling, in Arabic, for the torture of an opponent of the Algerian regime. On Tuesday, the public prosecutor announced that he would be tried on February 24 for “provocation to commit a crime or misdemeanor”, without placing him in pre-trial detention or even under judicial supervision. The magistrate notably specified that translations of the video “carried out by two expert interpreters” established that he had not used the words “kill him” but that he was calling for “a severe correction”.
But the day after his indictment, there was a twist: the Hérault prefecture announced that it had decided to withdraw his residence permit with “immediate placement in an administrative detention center with a view to his removal”. The accused, who does not have dual nationality, had a residence permit since 2010 and therefore resided legally in France. The prefecture justifies its decision by the fact that “public provocations to commit a crime or misdemeanor and legitimizing torture constitute serious threats to public order”.
Act II: An express expulsion and an even faster return
While his lawyer announces that he will appeal this decision, the Minister of the Interior issues an emergency expulsion order. Thus, from Thursday, Doualemn found himself on the tarmac of Roissy airport, surrounded by two border police agents. “In this case, we did not need a consular pass since he has a valid passport, his identity is therefore perfectly established,” said those close to the minister. The influencer’s lawyer denounces a desire to short-circuit the call.
But as soon as they arrived, Doualemn and the two police officers were forced to turn around. Since 2008, Algeria has had a law allowing its nationals to be refused entry if they represent a “threat”. “We have not had the slightest explanation, we still do not know the origin of this decision,” insists this same source. And to specify that last year, 1,700 Algerians were returned, “a historic record”, without this posing any difficulties.
Act III: Place for diplomacy
“It is now a diplomatic problem”, we specify at the Interior. Negotiations will be initiated between Paris and Algiers to try to resolve the situation. But in recent months, relations between the two countries have been stormy to say the least. Since November and the arrest of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, they have even been icy. And this new affair is not likely to calm the situation. “We have reached an extremely worrying threshold with Algeria,” said the Minister of the Interior this Friday.
In the meantime, the situation of the Doualemn influencer is at a standstill. Ineligible but now in an irregular situation. The duration of its retention cannot exceed 90 days.
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