French writer arrested by Algerian police during book presentation

Police stormed a bookshop in Bejaia, eastern Algeria, during a book launch by French writer Dominique Marter, arresting her, her publisher and participants before releasing them a few hours later, the editor-in-chief told AFP on Sunday.

“The police stormed the library on Saturday afternoon at the start of the book presentation of “The Tribes Shared” and arrested everyone in the room, including the author, her husband, myself and the bookseller.”“It was published by Arzeki Ait Larbi, who runs the Coco publishing house,” he said.

“We were taken to the police station before being released at around 8pm.”He added. The reasons for the police raid on the Goraya Library were not disclosed.

“Sharing the Kabylie region in women's privacy”The book, which was published and sold in Algeria, recounts Dominique Marter's memories in a village in the Kabylie region in the 1970s, and narrates the experiences of women in this predominantly Berber region in northern Algeria.

On Sunday he was the writer “We are still in Bejaia without any restriction of freedom.”according to its publisher. “We have no explanation for the reason for this ban. The book is sold in all bookstores.”Mr. Ait Larbi said again. She presented her book last week in Algiers. “No problem”He completed it.

The Coco publishing house has already been subjected to censorship in recent years in Algeria. She said that in 2022, 12 of her books, which mainly deal with political topics, were banned at Algeria's main book fair, Sila.