Spain: Authorities Must Not Deport Asylum Seeker Who Fled Algeria

Demonstrators hold the flag during anti-government protests in Algiers, Algeria (Reuters)
Demonstrators hold the flag during anti-government protests in Algiers, Algeria (Reuters)
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Spain: Authorities Must Not Deport Asylum Seeker Who Fled Algeria

Demonstrators hold the flag during anti-government protests in Algiers, Algeria (Reuters)
Demonstrators hold the flag during anti-government protests in Algiers, Algeria (Reuters)

The Spanish government is under increasing pressure and appeals to cancel its decision to deport the former Algerian soldier, M.B., and hand him over to the national authorities.

M.B. is an Algerian citizen and a former military official who fled the country in September 2019, after he was accused of participating in acts of sabotage during the Hirak popular movement that ousted former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

On 7 January 2021, the Algerian judiciary sentenced the 32-year-old former soldier in absentia to ten years for “spreading false information.”

The Algerian public prosecutor also issued an international arrest warrant against him and requested his extradition from Spain, where he had applied for political asylum.

The Spanish authorities had arrested him in Zaragoza and charged him with “carrying out activities that threaten national security and would undermine relations with a friendly country." They also accused him of communicating with the Rashad movement.

The Algerian defendant lawyer says that a bleak and ambiguous future awaits his client if he is handed over to the Algerian authorities for sharing videos online that expose corruption within the military.

Amnesty International is leading the campaign to defend M.B. and demand his political asylum, saying the Spanish authorities are deeply aware of the grim fate if they deport him.

Spanish authorities extradited in the summer of 2021 another former military official and asylum-seeker who had sought refuge in Spain in November 2018 after publicly accusing the Algerian military of corruption.



Israel's Defense Minister Warns Yemen's Houthis of Heavy Retaliation

FILED - 26 March 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Then Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz greets German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at an hotel in Jerusalem. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa
FILED - 26 March 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Then Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz greets German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at an hotel in Jerusalem. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa
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Israel's Defense Minister Warns Yemen's Houthis of Heavy Retaliation

FILED - 26 March 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Then Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz greets German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at an hotel in Jerusalem. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa
FILED - 26 March 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Then Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz greets German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at an hotel in Jerusalem. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa

Israel's defense minister on Thursday warned Yemen's Houthis will suffer heavy blows if they continue to fire at Israel and that its defense forces are prepared for any mission.

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday the US would stop bombing the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen, saying that the group had agreed to stop attacking US ships.

A ceasefire deal between Yemen's Houthis and the US does not include sparing Israel, the Houthis said on Wednesday, later saying they targeted Israel with drones.

"Israel must be able to defend itself on its own against any threat and any enemy," Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on X.

"The Houthis will suffer heavy blows from Israel if they continue to fire at us”, he said, adding that the Israeli army is prepared for any mission.

Katz also cautioned the Iranian leadership, which he accused of financing and arming the Houthi organization, declaring that the proxy system is over and "the axis of evil has collapsed."

He stated that Iran bears direct responsibility and warned that actions similar to those taken against Hezbollah in Beirut, Hamas in Gaza, Assad in Damascus, and the Houthis in Yemen could be carried out in Tehran.