The Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau announced on Wednesday, in the midst of the crisis between Paris and Algiers, a new arrest in France of an Algerian influencer, provoking an extremely rare refocusing of the Paris prosecutor's office on the subject of a ministerial communication deemed “premature” .
This announcement came at the height of tensions between Paris and Algiers, which the French government now intends to iron out to avoid any “escalation”, government spokesperson Sophie Primas warned on Wednesday.
Mr. Retailleau's announcement appears to have been poorly received by the Paris prosecutor's office.
“It is recalled that only the judicial authority is legitimate to communicate about a current legal case and that a person who is not tried is presumed innocent,” the Paris prosecutor’s office explained to AFP in an extremely rare decision. words resembling remonstrance. “In this case, this leak is also entirely premature.”
– “Report” –
This clarification came shortly after the announcement on the social network “called for violent acts to be committed on French territory on TikTok”.
“The national center for the fight against online hatred (PNLH) is investigating a report made on the PHAROS platform and relating in particular to a republication of a video without comment,” detailed the prosecution, adding that a search took place. place “in order to seize the computer equipment and check whether or not material elements would qualify an offense”.
“At this stage, nothing is being held against the person concerned, who must also receive treatment. She is not in police custody at this time,” concludes the public prosecutor at the end of this firm clarification.
According to a source close to the matter, the Algerian influencer was arrested Wednesday morning in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. His state of health having been deemed incompatible with police custody, he will be summoned on Thursday, this source also told AFP.
– Seven influencers arrested –
-The Minister of the Interior concluded his message with the words “Don't let anything slip through”, as he had already done on January 16, after the announcement of the arrest of another Algerian influencer, Mahdi B. , convicted and then incarcerated.
Relations between France and Algeria are degraded, particularly around the Western Sahara issues and the fate of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, imprisoned in Algeria since mid-November.
They became even worse 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 for twenty-six days by a judge.
Bruno Retailleau had estimated that by sending “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 have been targeted by proceedings in France for hate speech, often targeting opponents of the Algerian government.
For government spokesperson Sophie Primas, who praised “his determination”, “Bruno Retailleau is in his role as Minister of the Interior to ensure the security and protection of the French”.
“No one has any interest in an escalation between France and Algeria,” Sophie Primas further assured, while emphasizing that “Algeria today is increasing tension.” “We must bring our relations with Algeria to the same level as with other States,” she insisted, pleading for “appeasement without naivety”.
