France issues international arrest warrant for former Algerian diplomat over opposition figure kidnapping

Edited By : Africa Eye with Agencies

A French judge has issued an international arrest warrant for a former diplomat at the Algerian embassy in Paris, accused of involvement in the 2024 kidnapping and detention of Algerian influencer and dissident Amir Boukhors, known as Amir DZ.

The warrant, issued on 25 July, targets S.S., 37, for “arrest, kidnapping and detention in connection with a terrorist enterprise” as well as “criminal terrorist conspiracy,” according to a source close to the case. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office had requested the measure two days earlier, citing “serious suspicions” about his role in the incident.

Boukhors was abducted on 29 April 2024 in the Paris region and freed the following day after 27 hours of captivity in a forest in Seine-et-Marne. A report by the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) accuses S.S., described as a “non-commissioned officer” in Algeria’s DGDSE intelligence service, of operating in France under diplomatic cover as the embassy’s first secretary.

Eric Plouvier, Boukhors’ lawyer, called the decision “an important step” in preventing impunity for foreign agents “involved in acts of extreme gravity.” He said the suspect is no longer in France and may seek to claim immunity, but stressed that “once his so-called diplomatic mission ended, he only retained functional immunity.”

At least seven people, including an Algerian consular official, have been indicted over the case. “I saw death,” Boukhors told AFP. The dissident, who has lived in France since 2016 and was granted political asylum in 2023, is a vocal critic of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and has over one million followers on TikTok.

The case unfolds amid steadily worsening relations between Paris and Algiers since the summer of 2024.