An Algerian was stripped of his mandate by parliament following revelations about his past involvement in the Foreign Legion in France.
Parliament announced in a statement on Wednesday that it had decided by a majority of its members to strip Mohamed Bekhadra of his mandate as deputy in a vote behind closed doors.
Citing a report by the parliament’s legal commission, local media reported that Bekhadra had served in the Foreign Legion.
The report, which AFP was able to consult, concludes that the deputy "was not qualified to run" in the elections.
According to the text, "the fact that the member admitted having served in a foreign army with the rank of corporal means that his loyalty is to a foreign state."
Bekhadra published a video on Facebook saying that "he had joined the French army to obtain his residence papers and finance his studies"
"I cannot be stripped of my mandate simply because I served as a military nurse with a short-term contract in a foreign army," he said.
“I turned this page 15 years ago, I did not betray my country because no law prohibits what I did.”
A member of the Algerian National Front (FNA), Bekhadra was elected deputy of the Algerian community abroad in the constituency of Marseille, during the legislative elections of June 2021.
The Foreign Legion is a unit of the elite and special forces of the French Armed Forces. It consists of more than 9,000 men aged between 17-39 from around the world. After years, the soldier could become a French citizen.
