Star Metro - Franco-Algerian influencer to stand trial in March

A diplomatic row between France and Algeria has flared up over the arrests of several Algerian social media influencers accused of inciting violence.

Sofia Benlemmane, a Franco-Algerian woman in her fifties, was arrested on Thursday.

Followed on TikTok and Facebook by more than 300,000 people, she is accused of spreading hate messages and threats against Internet users and against opponents of the Algerian authorities, as well as insulting statements about France.

She was ordered to appear before a criminal court on March 18, the public prosecutor's office said.

She is being prosecuted for a series of offences including incitement to commit a crime, death threats and "public insult based on origin, ethnicity, nation, race or religion".

The blogger had insulted a woman during a live broadcast in September, shouting "I hope you get killed, I hope they kill you."

Her lawyer Frederic Lalliard argued that Benlemmane had committed no criminal offence, even though her comments "may irritate or shock."

Benlemmane, a former football player, made headlines in 2001 when she was given a seven-month suspended prison sentence for entering the Stade de France pitch outside Paris with an Algerian flag during a France-Algeria friendly match.

Although she was firmly opposed to the government in Algiers in the past, her views have since changed and she now supports the current authorities in Algeria.

Several other Algerian influencers have been the target of legal proceedings in France for hate speech.

Former prime minister Gabriel Attal said that France should cancel a 1968 accord with Algeria that gives Algerians special rights to live and work in France because of the dispute over what he called "preachers of hate".

Algeria won independence from France in 1962 after a seven-year war.

A.Rogen--SMC