On Tuesday, December 9, French police detained Mehdi Ghezzar, the campaign director for Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in France. According to APS, authorities informed him that he was listed both in the «S» file and the wanted persons file, exceptional measures applied to individuals deemed a serious threat to public safety. Ghezzar was released a few hours later. He told AL24 News, the official channel he collaborates with, that he had been «held for several hours by French police before being released this morning». Speaking to APS, he claimed to have been «subjected to pressure and intimidation by French border police agents for months», saying he is «systematically detained during [his] transits through Paris airports». Mehdi Ghezzar and his wife, Hanaa Bouakkaz, were prominent figures in France during the electoral campaign for candidate Tebboune ahead of the September 7, 2024 presidential election. A former collaborator with the French channel RMC, Ghezzar had notably accused André Azoulay, advisor to King Mohammed VI, of being a «Zionist Jew» behind a decree allegedly banning Moroccans from expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people. His arrest comes amid heightened political tensions between Paris and Algiers. On December 3, the Algerian judiciary sentenced French journalist Christophe Gleizes to seven years in prison on appeal. France is also preparing for the upcoming trial of those accused of kidnapping Algerian dissident Amir DZ, while Paris has issued an international arrest warrant for a diplomat who previously served at the Algerian embassy.
