The mother and sister of political activist Amira Bouraoui, at the heart of a diplomatic incident between Algeria and France, were arrested in Algiers, an NGO and a media reported on Sunday February 12.
Arrested on February 3 in Tunisia, from where she risked being deported to Algeria, Amira Bouraoui was finally able to board on February 6 on a flight to France. Algiers deemed it an “illegal exfiltration” and recalled its ambassador “for consultations”. This Franco-Algerian was subject to a ban on leaving the territory in Algeria.
In an official note to the French authorities, Algeria denounced “a violation” of its sovereignty, claiming that French diplomatic and security personnel had “participated in a clandestine and illegal operation to exfiltrate an Algerian national”.
According to the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (CNLD) and the Radio M news site, the mother of the activist, Khadidja Bouaroui, 71, and her sister, Wafa, were arrested on Saturday evening by gendarmes in Algiers and their home was searched. The sister was released early on Sunday, but the mother “was transferred” to Annaba (east), near the border with Tunisia, where she “risks being brought before the prosecutor today”, CNLD said. . A cousin of the family was also arrested and placed in police custody in Annaba, according to the same sources.
After a severe cold snap in the fall of 2021, Paris and Algiers had sealed a warming of their relations during a trip by French President Emmanuel Macron to Algiers last August.
