The judgment of the Algerian influencer, arrested Friday at his home in Échirolles, was postponed until March by the Grenoble criminal court. He is being prosecuted for “direct provocation to an act of terrorism”.
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The Algerian influencer ““Imad Tintin”arrested in Échirolles on Friday and placed under judicial supervision on Sunday, appeared this Monday, January 6 before the Grenoble criminal court.
“At today's immediate appearance hearing, the defendant requested time to prepare his defense,” said Eric Vaillant, public prosecutor of Grenoble.
The court adjourned the case to March 5 and remanded the defendant in custody until the date of the new hearing. Additional information was also ordered to allow the hearing of “Zazou Youcef”, another Algerian influencer imprisoned on Saturday for calling for attacks in France.
The additional information ordered by the Grenoble criminal court will also concern the hearing of Chawki Benzehra, an Algerian opponent who took refuge in France after taking part in pro-democratic demonstrations against power in 2019.
The 33-year-old man, who defines himself as a political activist, played an important role in the arrest of the Isère influencer. Videos of “Imad Tintin” and other Algerian influencers making threatening remarks on social media were translated and reported by Chawki Benzehra.
The postponement of the hearing will also allow the expertise of the cell phone of ““Imad Tintin”. The 31-year-old influencer from Échirolles was arrested at his home then “placed in police custody for death threats materialized in writing, image or other object committed because of race, ethnicity, nation or religion“, indicated Eric Vaillant.
The facts with which he is accused were subsequently reclassified as “direct provocation to an act of terrorism committed by means of an online public communication service”the prosecutor said on Saturday when his police custody was extended. The penalty incurred is 7 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 euros.
Nicknamed “The Luxury Bledar” on the social network TikTok, where he is followed by more than 70,000 people, the thirty-year-old called in a video that went viral to “burn alive, kill and rape on French soil any person who opposes the Algerian regime”.
“If you move, we will burn you! (…) I swear to Allah, we will all rape you (…) Here in France we will finish you off. No one will be able to defend you in France. If I find you , I will finish you off”he threatened openly.
A capture of this video, viewed more than 800,000 times, was taken up by the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, denouncing comments “despicable“.
The Isère influencer published this video to show his support for “Zazou Youcef”. Aged 25, the latter was arrested Friday morning in a working-class district of Brest. After this arrest, the Isère influencer removed his video from social networks. Arriving in France in 2021, the Algerian has been subject to an OQTF (Obligation to leave French territory) since May 2023.
In recent days, videos advocating violence against opponents of the Algerian regime have emerged on social networks. This is the third influencer who is the subject of prosecution in France after the publication on social networks of videos calling for violence.
