French anti-terrorist judge: “I’d like to see the Algerian regime overthrown”
The French judge Marc Trévidic, a former magistrate of the anti-terrorism division at the Paris Court of First Instance and an emblematic figure in the fight against terrorism, made a striking statement on January 10, 2025 on “Un monde, un regard” on Public Sénat, the French Senate official TV channel. Reacting to a question from Rebecca Fitoussi, Marc Trévidic said:
“It’s satisfying to have seen Bashar overthrown. I’d like to see the Algerian regime overthrown. Don’t tell us it’s not a dictatorship. People who imprison a writer, it’s absurd. In Algeria, if you speak your mind, you go to prison. And don’t tell us it’s not a dictatorship. The Algerian generals, the people of the DRS, the security forces, they’re dictators, period. All this is completely petty on the part of these criminals.”
This stance comes against a backdrop of high diplomatic tensions, fuelled by the Algerian military regime’s hostile declarations, the imprisonment of writer Boualem Sansal and a hybrid war campaign waged by the military regime in Algiers through Algerian and Franco-Algerian influencers. The context is all the more explosive given that recent comments in France, such as “Algeria is dishonoring itself” by Emmanuel Macron, “a thug state” according to Marion Maréchal, or “We need to divorce Algeria for good, end of naivety” by Sara Knaffo, have already discredited and exposed an Algerian military regime that is increasingly close to implosion.
Marc Trévidic’s statements take on particular resonance given that he has investigated several highly sensitive cases, including the Tibhirine monks affair, one of the darkest episodes in Algeria’s recent history, and one of the cases directly incriminating Mohamed Mediène, for having been one of the principals along with Smaïn Lamari.
