Tunisia sentences Algerian-French dissident to jail in absentia

French-Algerian activist Amira Bouraoui, whose "exfiltration" via Tunisia sparked a diplomatic incident with Paris, was sentenced in absentia on Friday to three years in prison for illegally entering Tunisia, her lawyer said.

Bouraoui had been banned from leaving Algeria after being sentenced to two years in jail for "offending Islam" and for insulting the president.

Early this month, she had entered Tunisia and was detained pending deportation to Algeria, but a judge decided to release her and she was able to leave for France.

Algeria accused French diplomats of helping her "clandestine and illegal exfiltration" and recalled its ambassador in Paris for consultations.

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Her lawyer Hashem Badra said a Tunis court had found Bouraoui guilty of "illegal entry into Tunisia without a travel document".

If Bouraoui returns to Tunisia, she could appeal the judgement, he added.

Algerian authorities have placed four people in pre-trial detention over the case, prosecutors said Tuesday.

A prominent figure in a 2014 protest movement against then-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fourth term in office, Bouraoui was also involved in the Hirak protest movement which unseated him in 2019.

She was sentenced in June 2020 to two years in prison before being granted provisional release the following month, but banned from leaving Algeria.