He mentions “planting a bomb at La Défense”: another Algerian influencer arrested and then imprisoned for advocating terrorism

This Thursday, January 16, a new Algerian influencer was arrested and then imprisoned for advocating terrorism according to Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced on Thursday that an Algerian influencer, presented as Mahdi B., had been arrested, convicted and then imprisoned this Tuesday, for having boasted in a video “of wanting to commit violent acts on French soil”. The minister ended his message on X (ex-Twitter) with the words “don't let anything go”.

This new case is being publicized in a context of diplomatic tensions between Paris and Algiers, particularly around the Western Sahara issues and the fate of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, imprisoned in Algeria since mid-November.

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“On January 9, the SDPJ of 93 (Seine-Saint-Denis judicial police, editor's note) was notified for acts of apology for terrorism committed on social networks following a report from the Pharos platform about a video in which the Algerian influencer Mahdi B. boasted, in Arabic, of wanting to commit violent acts on French soil”, reported the minister.

“Plant a bomb at La Défense”

According to his message and a police source, Mahdi B was arrested and taken into custody on Monday, then an order to leave French territory was issued by the prefecture. Tried in immediate appearance, the man was sentenced to eight months in prison and imprisoned.

According to the police source, the 29-year-old man arrested in Bondy (Seine-Saint-Denis) was imprisoned on Tuesday. The video he is suspected of having posted online allegedly made reference, in Arabic, to terrorism that will “come back” or to “planting a bomb at La Défense”, according to this source. Relations between Algeria and France, already tumultuous, have recently become more poisonous with the arrest in Montpellier of a 59-year-old Algerian influencer, “Doualemn”, after a contentious video on TikTok.

Put on a plane on January 9 to Algeria, this maintenance worker, father of two children, was sent back to France that same evening. On January 12, his detention was extended by 26 days by a judge. Bruno Retailleau had considered that by sending Mr. Naman, known as Doualemn, back to Paris, Algeria had sought to “humiliate France”. Algeria had rejected the French accusations of “escalation” and “humiliation” against Algiers. Since the beginning of January, several other Algerian influencers and a Franco-Algerian woman have been targeted by proceedings in France for hateful remarks, such as Zaza Youssef and Sofia Benlemmane.