Algeria’s highest authorities reportedly intervened to prevent the filing of a complaint by the lawyer of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif against former US President Donald Trump.
This is what the former president of the Algerian Olympic Committee (COA), Mustapha Berraf, has just revealed to the online newspaper La Partie News.
Mustapha Berraf confirmed: ” The President blocked everything in order to avoid controversy during the elections in the United States. It is a wise decision. Algerians will never disrupt the elections in the United States, a country, it must be remembered, which stood by Algeria for its independence.”
On August 9, Me Nabil Boudi, lawyer of Imane Khelif, announced the filing of a complaint in Paris for ” aggravated harassment ” following the smear campaign that targeted the Algerian champion during the Paris Olympic Games.
According to numerous media sources, the former US president and candidate in the November election is among the personalities named in the complaint, along with Elon Musk and British writer JK Rowling.
These figures and many others, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her deputy Matteo Salvini and many Internet users, have led a sustained campaign accusing Imane Khelif of being transgender.
In his statements to La Patrie News, the former president of the COA and current president of the Association of African National Olympic Committees (ANOCA) revealed that the lawyer of the Algerian champion intended to attack Donald Trump before international courts, but the President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune opposed it so as not to interfere in the American presidential election next November.
Imane Khelif case: Tebboune does not want a complaint to be filed against Trump
Mustapha Berraf revealed that the head of state gave ” clear instructions ” not to take this step.
“Algeria is a country that believes in the principles of neutrality and respect for the sovereignty of states, and will not participate in any action likely to disrupt the electoral process in the United States,” said the former president of the COA.
According to Berraf, the action taken by Imane Khelif’s lawyer ” was not appropriate,” and Algeria ” will never allow a national issue to be exploited to harm international relations or disrupt the electoral climate in other countries.”
