French prosecutors have placed a finance ministry employee under formal investigation on suspicion of spying for Algeria, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Thursday, at a time of mounting political tensions between France and its former colony.
The employee is accused of handing details on Algerian asylum seekers, including known opponents of the incumbent Algerian administration, to an Algerian contact working at the Algerian consulate in the Paris suburb of Creteil.
The employee was placed under formal investigation in December. In France, being put under formal investigation means there is serious or consistent evidence that points to likely involvement of a suspect in a crime. It does not imply guilt, and it does not necessarily lead to a trial.
The Creteil consulate didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The French finance ministry declined to comment. The Algerian Embassy in Paris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The same probe also led to the placing under formal investigation of a social worker at the French Office for Immigration and Integration. The woman is accused of sharing asylum seekers’ confidential details and breaching rules around professional secrecy.
The immigration office said it could not comment on an ongoing investigation.
French-Algiers relations
Ties between Paris and Algiers have deteriorated in recent months after French President Emmanuel Macron recognized Morocco‘s sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara. That decision angered Algiers.
As the diplomatic feuding has escalated, France last month threatened to review a decades-old agreement that makes it easier for Algerian citizens to move to France unless Algeria agrees to take back those the French authorities wish to deport.
