Expelled this Thursday to Algeria after a video posted on TikTok calling for violence, the influencer nicknamed Doualem. N was sent back to France in the evening by Algiers. He was placed in a CRA in Seine-et-Marne pending negotiations between the two governments.
The Franco-Algerian relationship on a tightrope. Arrested in Montpellier last Sunday January 5 after a video shared on the social network TikTok calling for violence, the 59-year-old Algerian influencer, Doualem N., was put on a plane this Thursday January 9 in the afternoon, according to his lawyer. But Algeria has “banned him from territory”, indicated the Ministry of the Interior in the evening. He was eventually sent back to France.
As soon as he returned to the national territory, he was placed at the Administrative Detention Center (CRA) of Mesnil-Amelot (Seine-et-Marne), north of Paris, Beauvau said. A press conference is planned for the end of the morning this Friday, January 10, to clarify the reasons for his return to France. Negotiations will notably be initiated between the two governments to establish a consular pass so that he can return to Algeria.
According to the influencer’s Montpellier lawyer, Jean-Baptiste Mousset, the French government “rushed the expulsion” of his client, to prevent her “from being examined by a judge”. The lawyer notably denounced the “exceptional means” implemented to “gag” Doualem N., who was to be tried in Montpellier on February 24.
Invited on CNEWS this Friday, the Minister of Labor, Health and Solidarity, Catherine Vautrin, considered that the situation of Doulaem N. was “a subject in contemporary international relations” and considered that social networks were “ channels which, if poorly used, could achieve social cohesion.
A “call to torture”
Last Saturday, January 4, the socialist mayor of Montpellier, Michaël Delafosse, reported the publication of a video on TikTok of the man with 180,000 subscribers for having made the following remarks: “kill him, let him suffer”, concerning a man “appearing to reside in Algeria”, specified Tuesday January 7 the public prosecutor of Montpellier, Fabrice Belargent.
After translation, the prefect of the Herald, François-Xavier Lauch, established that the term “kill him” had not been pronounced, the fifty-year-old calling on the other hand to give a “severe correction” to the man whom he he was aiming in his video.
It was in any case a “call for torture”, targeting “an opponent of the current regime in Algeria”, which would have justified the withdrawal of his residence permit and his expulsion, declared this Thursday François- Xavier Lauch.
-Algerian influencers in the crosshairs of the authorities
In recent days, several Algerian or Franco-Algerian influencers spreading calls for hatred on social networks have been arrested.
This Thursday, Sofia Benlemmane, a tiktoker in her fifties followed by more than 300,000 people on social networks, was placed in police custody for “death threats and public incitement to hatred”, according to Nelson Bouard, director interregional of the national police.
Two other influencers living in France were also arrested. Last Friday January 3, Youcef A., alias “Zazou Youssef” on TikTok, was arrested in Brest. Placed in pre-trial detention, he will be tried next Monday February 24 for advocating terrorism. He faces seven years in prison.
Last Saturday January 4, the 31-year-old influencer “Imad Tintin” was placed in police custody in Grenoble for a video, since removed, in which he called for “burning alive, killing and raping on French soil”. While in prison, he will be tried next Wednesday March 5 for provocation to acts of terrorism.
The Rhône prefecture also indicated, last Monday January 6, that it had made reports targeting three influencers based in Lyon, Sofia Benlemmane and two other TikTokers known under the pseudonyms “Abdesslam Bazooka” and “Laksas06”.
Two investigations for “provocation to the commission of a crime or misdemeanor” and for “death threats and public incitement to hatred” were opened, targeting two of these three influencers, without specifying which ones. The accounts of the three Lyon influencers have been permanently suspended by the platform.
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