Amira Bouraoui, the opponent and activist who was sentenced in 2020 in Algeria for “attacking Islam” in publications on social networks, and attacking the person of the President of the Republic. Imprisoned for a few months, the activist who is a 46-year-old gynecologist was released on bail, with a ban on leaving the territory (ISTN). Friday, February 3, she managed to cross the Algerian-Tunisian border, Tunisia from where she tried to fly to France using her French passport, obtained thanks to her marriage to a Franco-Algerian.
The intervention of the French Embassy in Tunis which allowed him to reach Lyon and triggered new tensions between Algeria and France. Indeed, on Wednesday February 8, the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune decided to recall the Algerian ambassador to France with “immediate effect” for “consultations”.
In two press releases released on Wednesday, the Presidency and the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced a “clandestine and illegal exfiltration of an Algerian national whose physical presence on national territory is prescribed by Algerian justice”.
Read also: Amira Bouraoui case: APS points the finger at the French DGSE
France’s reaction to this new diplomatic turbulence between Algiers and Paris
After all these reactions in Algeria, France reacted officially yesterday, Thursday February 9, to this affair, via the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, François Delmas, quoted by various French media.
This official defended the action of the French diplomatic representation in Tunisia and considered that “Amira Bouraoui is a French national and that as such, the French authorities exercise their consular protection”. “This is a procedure that is in no way out of the ordinary,” he argued.
Read also: Amira Bouraoui case: she relates her version and refutes the accusations
In addition, concerning the consequences of this case on Algerian-French relations, François Delmas affirmed that his country intends to continue to deepen the relationship with Algeria”. Also refusing “to comment on Algeria’s decision to recall its ambassador”. “It is an Algerian decision that it is not for me to comment on. For our part, we intend to continue working to deepen our bilateral relationship,” he said.
Finally, a question on a possible questioning of the visit of the Head of State, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, to Paris next May, the spokesperson for the Quai d’Orsay also did not wish to answer. The same official also refused to comment on what happened, since the arrival of the opponent, Amira Bouraoui on Tunisian territory, on Friday February 3, 2023, until her exfiltration in France, on Monday pass.
Read also: Tebboune summons the Ambassador of Algeria to France
