Friday January 3, two Algerian influencers were arrested for videos posted on TikTok accused of advocating terrorism or making death threats. One of them was arrested in Échirolles, near Grenoble.
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The influencer Imad Tintin, aka “Bledar du luxe” on TikTok, was arrested around 7:30 p.m. in Échirolles this Friday, January 3, then “placed in police custody for death threats materialized in writing, image or other object committed because of race, ethnicity, nation or religion” said Eric Vaillant, public prosecutor of Grenoble.
The arrest of Imad Tintin follows a denunciation by Chawki Benzehra, who presents himself on X as an Algerian activist who took refuge in France and lives in Lyon. According to him, the Isère influencer published a TikTok video calling for “burn alive, kill and rape on French soil any person who opposes the Algerian regime”.
According to the political activist, who invited Bruno Retailleau to “take the individual’s profile very seriously“, Imad Tintin would be “an ex-soldier in an irregular situation in France followed by more than 70k on TikTok and who boasts of knowing how to handle weapons”. On social networks, his video had more than 800,000 views before being removed.
Friday evening, the Minister of the Interior reposted Chawki Benzehra's publication on X, indicating that Imad Tintin had been arrested, and that he should “respond to the vile remarks made on TikTok before the Courts“. “Don't let anything pass“, he added.
The Isère influencer had published this “call for murder” video to support another Algerian TikToker, Youcef A. nicknamed Zazouyoussef. Aged 25, the latter was arrested early Friday morning in a working-class neighborhood of Brest (Finistère).
Accused of having called for attacks to be carried out, he published a video on TikTok on December 31 in which he spoke vehemently in Arabic, subtitled in French, and called for attacks in France and violence in Algeria.
Chawki Benzehra, the political activist, also denounced these facts on X and reported the video to the French authorities.
Followed by hundreds of thousands of subscribers, the Brittany-based influencer was taken into police custody with a man suspected of being his accomplice for “acts of apology for acts of terrorism and provocation of hatred and violence“, Brest public prosecutor Camille Miansoni told AFP.
The influencer Imad Tintin arrested in Échirolles had, for his part, removed his video after the arrest of Youcef A.
