The two men “were both placed in police custody for acts of apology for an act of terrorism and provocation to hatred and violence”, indicated the Brest public prosecutor Camille Miansoni, emphasizing that investigations continued.
In the evening, Bruno Retailleau, who had already announced the first arrests, reported the arrest of another “Algerian influencer”, known under the name « mind ». “He too will have to answer for the vile comments made on TikTok before the courts. Don’t let anything slip by,” commented the Minister of the Interior on X
This second influencer was “arrested in Échirolles around 7:30 p.m. and placed in police custody for death threats materialized in writing, image or other object committed because of race, ethnicity, nation or religion”, a indicated Grenoble prosecutor Eric Vaillant.
Calls to commit attacks:
Originally, on Tuesday, December 31, a video was published on the social network TikTok, where the Brittany-based influencer, followed by hundreds of thousands of subscribers, spoke vehemently in Arabic, subtitled in French, calling for attacks in France and violence in Algeria.
“When the police informed me that they had detected this video, I asked them to contact the prosecution immediately so that a judicial inquiry would immediately give us the means to investigate,” said the prefect of Finistère Alain Espinasse. .
This video was also sent to the Pharos platform for reporting illegal content on the internet. « The Algerian influencer Zazouyoussef who called on his community to commit attacks in France will have to answer for his actions before the courts,” declared Bruno Retailleau on X.
According to TikTok, the account in question “was banned after posting several videos identified as violating our community guidelines, including our hate policies.” “Six copies of the affected videos” were also detected and deleted, TikTok says.
Appeal of his conviction
Youcef A., born in Mostaganem in the northwest of Algeria, declared that he arrived in France in 2020, and received a residence permit in March 2023, valid until March 14, 2024, according to Mr. Espinasse. “He had a residence permit as the parent of a French child since he had a child with a person of French nationality,” said the prefect.
During the urban riots which shook France after the death of Nahel in June 2023, Youcef A. was arrested for having taken part in the damage to a sports complex in Brest and sentenced in December to twelve months’ imprisonment. “He appealed immediately,” which explains why he was not imprisoned, said Mr. Espinasse.
The hearing of his appeal trial is “pending setting”, according to the Rennes Court of Appeal. “Given the facts of which he was guilty, when his residence permit expired in March 2024, I decided not to renew it and he was notified on April 18, 2024 of an Obligation to leave the territory French (OQTF),” he said.
