A young Algerian national, aged 22, living without papers in France, has just been sentenced to prison. The reason? He refused to comply with the expulsion order issued against him by the Prefecture. Here is his story full of twists and turns with the French justice system.
Having arrived in France six years ago, when he was only 16, the Algerian national with the initials MZ quickly descended into delinquency, according to the local newspaper La Voix du Nord, which reported his story on Wednesday, September 18.
• Until July 2023, the date of his last court appearance, he already had about ten convictions. During his last appearance, he was sentenced to prison for a violent robbery on public transport, a repeat offender.
He refused 7 times to submit to the procedure of expulsion to Algeria
This sentence was accompanied by confirmation of the obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), pronounced against him in 2022. After serving his sentence at Sequedin prison, in the north of France, the French administration initiated the procedure for his expulsion last spring.
• As required by procedure, he had to be reported with a photo and his fingerprints, then taken to the Algerian Consulate to be issued with a pass. But after seven attempts, the administration was unable to get him to complete these procedures, because he systematically refused.
• During this entire period, he was held at the administrative detention center (CRA) in Lesquin, in the north of France. On Monday, September 16, the young Algerian national was brought before the Lille judicial court for immediate appearance.
• This time, he had to answer the charge of refusing to submit to the identification operations. The court also had to force him to carry out the procedure for deportation.
A six-month prison sentence with the OQTF maintained
In his defence, he told the judge that he had not been informed of the appointments for the identification survey operations. The judge then reminded him that he had admitted, during the investigation, that he had refused these steps and that he did not want to return to Algeria.
• It was then that the so-called MZ declared in court that he now wanted to go to Switzerland, where he hoped to “have other opportunities”, because he “was not happy in France”. Of course, the Lille court did not accept his request and sentenced him to prison for refusing to submit to the removal procedure.
• At the end of the hearing, the Algerian national was sentenced to six months in prison with continued detention and a ban on French territory for four years. Upon his release from prison, he will return to the CRA in Lesquin with a view to a new expulsion procedure to Algeria.