Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced the arrest on Wednesday morning in France of an Algerian influencer, presented as Rafik M., who “called for violent acts to be committed on French territory on TikTok”.
This arrest comes at a time of diplomatic tensions between Paris and Algiers, while several Algerian influencers have been arrested in recent weeks in France.
The Minister of the Interior ended his message on the social network then incarcerated.
In his message, Mr. Retailleau did not specify where Rafik M. was arrested on Wednesday morning.
Tensions are high between France and Algeria, particularly around the Western Sahara issues and the fate of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, imprisoned in Algeria since mid-November.
They became a little more heated with the recent arrest in Montpellier of a 59-year-old Algerian influencer, “Doualemn”, after a contentious video on TikTok.
Put on a plane on January 9 for Algeria, this maintenance worker, father of two children, was sent back to France the same evening. On January 12, his detention was extended by 26 days by a judge.
-Bruno Retailleau had estimated that by sending Mr. Naman known as Doualemn back to Paris, Algeria had sought to “humiliate France”.
Algeria had rejected French accusations of “escalation” and “humiliation”, citing a “disinformation campaign” against Algiers.
Since the beginning of January, several other Algerian influencers and a Franco-Algerian have been targeted by proceedings in France for hate speech.
published on January 22 at 10:26 a.m., AFP
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