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Signs of diplomatic crisis between Algeria, France over activist’s flight

February 9, 2023 at 4:50 pm

Amira Bouraoui, a rights activist detained during the 2019 mass protests in Algeria and freed from prison in 2020 [lebrief]

Signs of diplomatic tension between Algeria and France have become very visible this week after Paris helped an Algerian activist wanted by authorities in Algiers escape from Tunisia to France.

Amira Bouraoui, a rights activist detained during the 2019 mass protests in Algeria and freed from prison in 2020, had allegedly crossed into Tunisia illegally after evading Algerian judicial surveillance, according to Algerian and French media, Reuters reports.

She was arrested in Tunisia this week and faced an extradition hearing, but the judge ordered her to be freed and she was allowed to leave the country on Monday.

French media reported that her release and flight to France was the result of French diplomatic pressure on Tunisia.

On Tuesday Tunisian President Kais Saied dismissed Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi without giving a reason.

France’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment while a spokesperson for Tunisia’s government was not immediately available for comment.

Algeria’s Foreign Ministry accused Paris of “violation of national sovereignty by French diplomatic, consular and security personnel who participated in the illegal and secret evacuation of an Algerian national.” Adding that it is “unacceptable and harms Algerian-French relations.”

READ: Algeria: activist arrives in France after consular intervention in Tunisia