Diplomatic sources said that the Algerian embassy in France, on Wednesday, filed to sue the French state-owned international news television, France 24, after hosting a political analyst who attacked the Algerian army and authorities.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune confirmed that the Algerian army has been under attack for months. Consequentially, conspiracy theories of foreign scheming against the African country returned to public discourse.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Algeria summoned the French ambassador, Xavier Driencourt, in protest against statements given on France 24, describing them as “false” and “against the Algerian authorities” on combating the coronavirus.
“The French ambassador to Algeria has been summoned Tuesday by the Foreign Affairs minister who informed him of Algeria’s strong protests following the false, hate and defamatory statements against Algeria, made recently on a channel of the French public television,” said a communiqué of the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Algeria’s Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum asked the French ambassador “to transfer this protest to the highest authorities in his country (…) because this channel insists on tarnishing Algeria’s image at a time when all efforts should be focused on fighting the Corona pandemic,” the document said.
On Monday, France24 hosted a French researcher named Francis Ghilès, who claimed that the Algerian authorities had transferred aid from China to counter the coronavirus in Algeria to a military hospital in the capital, and alleged that the government of Algeria does not care about its citizens.
Ghilès accused Algerian authorities of poor management of the COVIDd-19 health crisis and of having reserved health privileges for soldiers and members of government at the expense of the population.
He said it was not China that sent aid to Algeria, but the public construction company CSCEC, which carried out important projects in the country, and pointed out that this aid was diverted to the benefit of the military hospital of Aïn Naâdja in Algiers “to treat the senior officers of the army”.
