A group of 20 French intellectuals has promoted a manifesto addressed to Presidents Pedro Sánchez and Emmanuel Macron to request the release of Algerian journalist and opposition figure Ayoub Aïssiou, who was detained on July 25 at Barcelona airport due to a claim from his country investigating him for alleged forgery of public documents and money laundering. However, his defense denounces “political persecution” and the National Court will have to decide in the coming days whether to extradite him to Algeria.
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The letter addressed to Sánchez and Macron was promoted by philosopher Daniel Salvatore Schiffer, who involved Marek Halter and Hassen Chalghoumi. In the text, they urge the Spanish and French leaders not to authorize the extradition of Aïssiou to Algeria because “the political and judicial power” of this country “is completely at odds with respect for human rights and freedom of expression.” They warn that “the honor of France and Spain is at stake.”
This group of intellectuals denounces “persecution” against the Algerian journalist, who took refuge in France in 2019 and applied for asylum in the country in 2021. According to their claims, Algerian authorities are actually investigating him for the “hypothetical crime” of “daring to criticize” this “authoritarian regime” through the television channel he owned, Djazaïria One, whose broadcasts were banned in Algerian territory in 2021.
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They also recall that in his country of origin “he not only suffers serious threats to his safety but also to his life.” Therefore, in the letter they demand that the presidents get involved in his release so that he can reunite with his family in France, where he is an asylum seeker.
Ayoub Aïssiou has been in pretrial detention for almost a month, in Brians 1 prison, since he was arrested in Barcelona on July 25. After arriving at the airport, he intended to go to Miami Platja to settle there after also receiving threats in France. Algeria issued an international arrest warrant against him on April 9.
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