The Constantine public prosecutor’s office in Algeria requested on Tuesday, October 31, ten years in prison against the Franco-Algerian opponent Amira Bouraoui and three against the Algerian journalist Mustapha Bendjama, accused of having helped her escape to France, indicated to the AFP one of the defense lawyers. The verdict is expected on November 7, the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees (CNLD) announced early in the evening.
Amira Bouraoui, a trained doctor aged 46, is being prosecuted in absentia for “illegal exit from the territory” after crossing the border between Algeria and Tunisia on February 3, defying an exit ban, before being arrested in Tunis then that she was trying to board a flight to Paris, said Mr. Abdellah Heboul. The activist was finally able to fly to France three days later, despite an attempt by the Tunisian authorities to send her back to Algeria.
Algiers had described his departure to France as an “illegal exfiltration” carried out with the help of French diplomatic and security personnel and had recalled its ambassador to Paris for consultations. The diplomatic quarrel was resolved in March.
Commitment to the Hirak movement
The prosecution also requested five years of imprisonment for a border police agent, Ali Takaida, and three years for Mr. Bendjama, the 71-year-old mother of Ms. Bouraoui, taxi driver Djamel Miassi and Yacine Bentayeb , cousin of Ms. Bouraoui. The activist’s co-defendants are being prosecuted for “constitution of a criminal association, illegal exit from the national territory, organization of illegal immigration by an organized criminal network”, according to the prosecution.
Ms. Bouraoui became known in 2014 for her involvement in the Barakat movement against the fourth term of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, before getting involved in the Hirak protest movement and working for the independent private radio station Radio M.
Mustapha Bendjama was arrested on February 8 in the premises of the French-speaking newspaper Le Provincial, based in Annaba (east), of which he is the editor-in-chief, in the context of the Bouraoui affair. He was sentenced on October 26 to twenty months in prison, eight of which were served alongside Algerian-Canadian researcher Raouf Farrah.
They were found guilty of “publishing information and documents whose content is classified partially or entirely secret, on an electronic network or other technological means of media”. Mr. Farrah was released after serving his sentence in preventive detention, while Mr. Bendjama remains incarcerated because he is being prosecuted in several cases including the flight of Amira Bouraoui.