“We must make the powder speak”: arrest of Zazou Youcef, an Algerian influencer under OQTF, for calls for violence in France

“Don’t let anything slip away.” The Algerian influencer Zazou Youcef, whose real name is Youcef Aziria, was arrested this Friday, January 3 in Brest, in Finistère, to be placed in police custody on charges of public apology and direct provocation to commit acts of terrorism, according to BFMTV. In question, videos published on social networks in which he allegedly called for violence in France, particularly against opponents of the Algerian regime. According to a police source, the suspect was arrested without incident, as was another man of Algerian nationality.

“Long live Algeria, I will finish you off”

Two videos were particularly shocking: in the first, Zazou Youcef threatened to commit attacks on New Year's Eve. “We're going to do you like in the 90s. We're going to shoot you […] Do you want to go out on January 1st? Shoot them, we have to make the powder speak. President Tebboune (the Algerian president, Editor's note), shoot them, they want chaos,” he explained in Arabic in front of the camera. In a second video and despite the controversy raised by the first, the influencer persisted. “We we are at war. At the slightest misstep, we will screw your mothers,” he threatened, miming a throat-slitting gesture. In the streets of Brest, he said: “Come and confront us. If you have something to say, we're here. We're going to fuck you, piss on you, we're going to rape you then fuck your mother […] Long live Algeria, I will finish you off.”

An influencer under OQTF and already known to the police

According to our colleagues, Zazou Youcef was the subject of an Obligation to Leave the Territory (OQTF) issued by the Finistère prefecture on April 18, 2024. The Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau welcomed this arrest this Friday morning on his account X, ensuring that the influencer “will have to answer for his actions before the courts”.

Of Algerian nationality and born in Mostaganem in Algeria, Zazou Youcef was active on TikTok, where his now suspended account had more than 400,000 subscribers. According to Le Figarohe was already known to the police for common law crimes such as caravan thefts, shoplifting and damage to property.