The Japan Times - Algeria protests after consular official indicted in France

The indictment comes at a delicate time in relations between Algeria and its former colonial power, with Algiers claiming the move was aimed at scuppering recent attempts to repair ties.

Three men, one of whom works at an Algerian consulate in France, were indicted Friday in Paris on suspicion of involvement in the abduction of 41-year-old Amir Boukhors.

Boukhors, known as "Amir DZ", is an opponent of the Algerian government and has more than a million followers on TikTok.

The three were indicted on grounds including abduction, arbitrary detention and illegal confinement, in connection with a terrorist enterprise, according to France's National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office.

They were later detained in custody.

Algeria's foreign ministry said it had hauled in French Ambassador Stephane Romatet to "express its strong protest".

It said the indicted consular officer "was arrested in public and then taken into custody without notification through the diplomatic channels".

It denounced a "far-fetched argument" based "on the sole fact that the accused consular officer's mobile phone was allegedly located around the home" of Boukhors.

The Algerian influencer has been in France since 2016 and was granted political asylum in 2023. He was abducted in April 2024 and released the following day, according to his lawyer.

Algiers is demanding the influencer's return to face trial, having issued nine international arrest warrants against him, accusing him of fraud and terror offences.

- Strained ties -

The Algerian foreign ministry demanded the immediate release of its consular officer.

It said the "unprecedented" turn of events was "no coincidence", and was "aimed at torpedoing the process of reviving bilateral relations" agreed by French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in a March 31 telephone call.

Relations between Paris and Algiers came under strain last year when France recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, where Algeria has long backed the pro-independence Polisario Front.

Algeria recalled its ambassador from Paris in protest of the policy shift it has viewed as favouring its North African rival.

Relations soured further in November when Algeria arrested French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal on national security charges, after he told a French far-right media outlet that Morocco's territory was truncated in favour of Algeria during French colonial rule.

Sansal has since been sentenced to five years in jail.

Tensions eased somewhat thanks to the recent phone call between Macron and Tebboune, who voiced their willingness to repair relations.

And French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot expressed hope last Sunday for a "new phase" in relations with Algeria, during a visit aimed at mending the diplomatic rift.

H.Takahashi--JT