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Middle East Eye
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
French unions call for Paris to evacuate Gaza journalists and families
Around 20 journalists' associations in France, including those affiliated with France 24, Le Monde, and Radio France Internationale, have called on Paris to evacuate journalists in Gaza working for French outlets. "We call on the French authorities to do everything possible to enable the evacuation of Gazan journalists, fixers, and drivers working for French media outlets and their families," the associations wrote in a letter. It was signed by associations affiliated with French media organisations, including BFMTV, Le Figaro, Liberation, and Mediapart. "Our colleagues and their families are in danger of death today after Benjamin Netanyahu's government announced its intention to take full control of the Gaza Strip," the letter read. It added that since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, "more than 200 of our colleagues in Gaza have been killed".
El Chorouk
20-05-2025
- Politics
- El Chorouk
Paris Foreign Minister Renews Appeal to Algeria in Sansal Case
While the French side insists, each time, that the French judiciary is sovereign and the executive authority has no influence over it, officials in Paris find no embarrassment in violating this principle, which is customary in democratic countries, by attempting to interfere in the affairs of the Algerian judiciary when it comes to France's interests. The latest chapter in this equation is what was issued by the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, on Tuesday, April 20, 2025, where he did not hesitate to delve again into the case of the Franco-Algerian writer, Boualem Sansal, which is considered among the issues that have exacerbated relations between the two countries. In an interview with Radio France Internationale 'France Inter', the head of French diplomacy expressed hope that the Algerian authorities would take a 'humanitarian gesture' in favor of the Algerian-French writer Boualem Sansal. It was notable in his speech that he spoke of 'the Algerian authorities', which is usually understood as a reference to the political decision-makers in the country. The French official's statement came on the occasion of the start of the first sessions of the trial of the Franco-Algerian writer, who is accused of undermining the territorial integrity of the country, at the level of the Algiers Judicial Council, which decided to postpone the trial until June 24, with the verdict to be announced on July 1, 2025. Jean-Noël Barrot said: 'I am very concerned about his health. He is an elderly and frail man,' and he went on to comment: 'For this reason, I hope that he will be tried as soon as possible, and if possible in the next few days, so that after this ruling, a humanitarian gesture can be made towards him, a gesture that we have called on the Algerian authorities to make.' This is not the first time that such statements have been issued by French officials, from the highest official, represented by the master of the Elysée Palace, Emmanuel Macron, to his Prime Minister, François Bayrou, and his Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, and officials and deputies in both houses of parliament. However, the Algerian side has not responded to these demands, but rather considered them a blatant interference in the judicial affairs of a sovereign state. The Algerian judiciary had sentenced Boualem Sansal, who has been imprisoned since mid-November, to five years in prison on March 27, following statements Sansal made to the far-right channel 'Frontières'. These statements were interpreted by the Algerian judiciary as causing serious harm to the territorial integrity of the country, in addition to being contrary to historical truth and the reality on the ground. They were also severely criticized by the French historian, Benjamin Stora, who refuted them with irrefutable and undeniable evidence. The French minister's statements came in the context of an unjustified French escalation regarding this issue. On May 6, the French National Assembly (the lower house of parliament) adopted a parliamentary resolution calling for the 'immediate release' of the Franco-Algerian writer. The deputies also urged, through that resolution, the European Union to pressure Algeria to release Boualem Sansal, and also urged Brussels to condition any cooperation with Algeria on the release of the convicted writer. According to observers, the French foreign minister's statement will have no effect on the case of the Franco-Algerian writer, as long as Paris continues its provocations against Algeria, by targeting its consular interests (kidnapping and imprisoning consular officials outside diplomatic norms and the provisions of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations), in addition to violating bilateral agreements in the diplomatic field, not to mention the continuous harassment of the Algerian community.
Al Bawaba
28-04-2025
- Al Bawaba
Man behind French mosque stabbing arrested in Italy
ALBAWABA - After being on the run for days, the man suspected of stabbing a muslim over 40 times inside a French mosque in La Grand-Combe has been arrested in Italy. Meanwhile, hundreds of human rights activists swarmed France's streets to condemn the Islamophobic incident. According to Radio France Internationale, the suspect was identified as Olivier H, a man born in 2004 in Lyon with Bosnian origins. Things escalated when the same individual shared a video on social media, claiming that he's going to go on a killing spree and become a "serial killer," committing similar incidents. Several French reports claimed that Olivier turned himself in to the local police in Pistoia, a region located in Florence, Italy. This comes after more than 70 investigators were ordered to locate and arrest Olivier. Aboubakar Cissé was stabbed over 40 times when he was attending the Friday prayers in Khadidja mosque, a small mosque located in La Grand-Combe, the Gard region of Southern France. Just after the stabbing occurred, the suspect was spotted waving a knife while shouting vulgar slurs, then fled the scene, as reported by France Info. Ales' public prosecutor Abdelkrim GRINI said, "I can confirm that the alleged perpetrator did indeed go to an Italian police station, near Florence, last night at around 11-11.30 pm." France: Muslim Man Murdered, Stabbed Over 40 Times In Mosque On Friday, Muslim worshipper, Aboubakr, was stabbed to death in a horrific and Islamophobic attack in La Grande Combe mosque in the Gard region of southern #France. The attacker stabbed the worshipper over 40 times…
The Guardian
21-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Russian journalist facing prison on the run after escaping house arrest
A Russian journalist who faced up to 10 years in prison for criticising the army has escaped house arrest and is now wanted by police, Russian state media reported Monday. Ekaterina Barabash, 63, had been arrested in February on suspicion of spreading 'false information' about the Russian armed forces in several posts she made on social media. 'The accused has been declared wanted,' the Moscow branch of Russia's federal penitentiary service said, the state TASS news agency reported. Authorities were alerted to her disappearance on 13 April by an electronic monitoring system. Since Russia launched its military offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, authorities have launched thousands of cases against people accused of 'discrediting' the army. Barabash had written for several news outlets, including Republic and the Russian service of Radio France Internationale. She had been an outspoken critic of Moscow's military offensive on Ukraine, writing on Facebook in March 2022 that Russia had 'bombed the country' and 'razed whole cities to the ground'. Russia, which denies targeting civilians, made it illegal to criticise the army and its military operations in Ukraine shortly after its offensive began. Rights groups say authorities are using the law to wage an unprecedented crackdown on dissent reminiscent of the Soviet era. Fleeing house arrest is risky in Russia, but not unheard of. Former Russian state TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who protested the Ukraine conflict during a live broadcast, escaped Russia in 2022 after fleeing house arrest.
El Chorouk
16-04-2025
- Politics
- El Chorouk
Consensus in France That A Minister Defeated the Head of State
A cartoon in the French satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné vividly summarised the role of the far-right's French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau in dragging Algerian-French relations toward a dark horizon, reflecting the same position of Algerian authorities before and after the rift. In a sarcastic tone, Le Canard Enchaîné commented on French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to withdraw his ambassador from Algeria and retaliate against its decision to expel 12 employees working at the French embassy in Algiers. The newspaper published a picture of Interior Minister Bruno Roteaut smiling and commented, 'Everything is going wonderfully wrong', clearly referring to this minister's prominent role in destroying bilateral relations. The Algerian authorities' accusation that Minister Retailleau had sabotaged relations between the two countries was not merely an exaggeration or an inaccurate description of the tensions that gripped the Algiers-Paris axis. Rather, it has become a conviction among many French people, even if the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs himself, Jean-Noël Barrot, attempted to exonerate his government colleague from the worsening of bilateral relations in an interview with Radio France Internationale (France Inter) the day after the rift between the two countries. Nothing is more indicative of this than the debate on the set of the far-right CNews channel. It concluded that French diplomacy, in dealing with the escalating situation with Algeria, was torn between two currents. The first, led by President Emmanuel Macron, called for calm, while the second, represented by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, called for escalation. Supporters of the second option emerged victorious. What's interesting is that the faction led by the Interior Minister triumphed over the faction led by the Head of State in a strange paradox, because when the crisis intensified, Macron attempted to take the Algerian file out of the hands of Retailleau, who presumably lacked the authority or access to it, based on the constitutional powers granted to both parties. This is especially true given the vast difference between the two positions, especially if the observer realises that the political system in France is presidential. Without disregarding the possibility of a role swap between President Macron and his Interior Minister, to confuse decision-makers in Algeria amid a devastating, unprecedented crisis since the end of French colonialism more than six decades ago, the hypothesis of the French president's weakness remains strongly present. This is due to his declining popularity and the loss of his parliamentary majority in the early parliamentary elections he called for last summer. This forced him to ally with a right-wing movement hostile to Algeria, which is still reeling from a political, military, and moral defeat at the hands of the stubborn Algerian people. However, statements that could be considered a slip of the tongue by Bruno Retailleau, issued just hours after Macron's decision to withdraw his country's ambassador from Algeria and implement the reciprocity resolution, support the hypothesis of the 'strong' Interior Minister versus the 'weak' President. In an interview with the far-right CNews channel, held Tuesday night, Retailleau asserted that Algerian private services were behind the alleged kidnapping of an Algerian fugitive from justice on French soil. He said in the interview: 'It is unacceptable, and truly unpalatable, for France to be a playground for Algerian services,' referring to the kidnapping allegations promoted by the Paris authorities, while the case is still in the hands of the judiciary. This is a dangerous slip that reveals that the independence of the judiciary in France is merely a pretext for settling scores with other countries. With this statement, he interferes with judicial decisions by attempting to establish a charge that never occurred against an accused who is innocent until proven guilty. This person also enjoys diplomatic immunity based on the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. France had previously witnessed an incident in 1996 in which a Zairean diplomat was implicated in the murder of two French children. However, the French authorities did not rush to arrest him and allowed him to leave French territory without difficulty, as he enjoyed diplomatic immunity. This incident exposed the policy of double standards that France employed in its dealings with Algeria. Fortunately, the Algerian response was on par with the French recklessness and perhaps even exceeded it.
