Rédaction Africa Links 24 with ania.b
Published on 2024-04-15 09:41:39
Farid Alilat, an Algerian journalist working for over twenty years for the magazine Jeune Afrique, was prevented from entering the national territory, according to a testimony posted on his Facebook account yesterday.
Indeed, the journalist and writer recounts that upon his arrival at the Algiers International Airport from Paris last Friday, he was detained and questioned by the police for several hours before being escorted back to the plane to be deported.
In a lengthy post on his Facebook page, Farid Alilat recounts the events of that night spent between the airport and the premises of the judicial police. He begins his testimony with: “I, Farid Alilat, journalist at Jeune Afrique, and Algerian citizen, was deported on Saturday, April 13, 2024 from the Algiers International Airport after spending over 11 hours in the premises of the Border Police (PAF) and the judicial police (PJ) of this airport. On Friday, April 12, I arrived around 6:30 pm at the PAF counter. After an initial verification of my identity, the officer calls his superior. He takes my passport and makes phone calls. After five minutes, he asks me to follow him with my luggage to the entrance of the PJ premises. There, another officer takes charge. I ask what is happening, and I am told that they will carry out routine checks. Then, I am directed to a waiting room…”
He states that he was questioned on record by the authorities, describing in detail the process, adding that: “Around 10:30 pm, I was taken with my luggage to the premises of the PJ at the same airport. It was decided to place my luggage in an office. In another office, they decided to interview me. The officers asked for my residence permit, my driver’s license, and my press card which they scanned. The interrogation begins. They did not present me with any legal document justifying this interrogation.”
Alilat questioned on various aspects of his professional and personal life
The officers questioned him on various aspects of his personal and professional life. Indeed, he affirms that “three officers took turns questioning me about everything. My lineage, my educational background, my personal situation. They asked me about my travels, the people I meet when I come to Algeria, my writings, the editorial line of my newspaper, the purpose of my trip, the MAK, Algerian opponents abroad. At one point, they asked me to unlock my phone and access it. I have nothing to hide. They also asked me about my writings in Jeune Afrique, my publications on Facebook and Twitter, my legal history in Algeria and France. Again, I have nothing to hide.”
After signing a record of the interview, Farid Alilat claims to have been sent back to France without a clear explanation. “I asked the officer accompanying me why I was being sent back. He says, ‘No, we are just taking you back to the plane.’ I told him that it is the expulsion of an Algerian citizen and a journalist, he said, ‘No, we are just taking you back to the plane to leave.’ I asked why and what justifies this exclusion. He said, ‘These are instructions.’ I am escorted by a police officer to the door of the Air France plane. My passport is handed over to the pilot. Normal procedure.”
Read the original article(French) on Algerie 360
