French-Algerian writer sentenced to five years in prison in Algeria
A French-Algerian writer was sentenced on March 27th to five years in prison in a symbolic move set to exacerbate the crumbling diplomatic tensions between France and Algeria.
Boualem Sansal was arrested in November 2024 for underming Algeria’s territorial integrity and subsequently sentenced to five years in prison for saying in an interview with a far-right French media outlet that France unfairly ceded Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial era, reported by France24 on March 27th.
The statement echoes the long-standing Moroccan claim to Algerian territory, thus undermining Algeria’s state borders particularly as France has moved to support Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara – a move opposed by Algiers also.
Since his arrest, the European Parliament has called for his “immediate and unconditional release”, reported by Maghrebi, as well as direct calls from French President Emmanuel Macron for his release, expressing confidence that Algerian President Tebboune will receive “clarity of vision” on the matter.
Macron has also cited Sansal’s fragile state of health from his cancer diagnosis.
Sansal has denied any attempt to harm Algeria, saying he merely “expressed an opinion” in the name of “freedom of speech”, according to France24.
However, Algerian news site TSA has written that the trial was “not just about the fate of one man but also the immediate future of relations” between Algeria and its former colonial ruler, as tensions continue to rise.
Since Paris declared support for Morocco’s claim of sovereignty over Western Sahara in July 2024, in opposition to the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, followed by disputes over migration and tit-for-tat diplomatic rows.
President Tebboune has blamed the descent of Algerian-French relations on the far-right within French politics, implying that only the most radical factions within France are dedicated to the ruining of Algerian diplomatic relations.
Sansal’s novels, critical of political Islam and has commented on the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s, as well as expressing pro-Israeli views, have won him powerful friends from the French far-right, including Marine Le Pen, but placed him on a long list of political opposition to the Algerian government.
In his novels, he likens political Islam to Nazism, highly inflammatory rhetoric for the government of Algeria.
If official Algerian discourse regards Sansal’s detention as a result of diplomatic tensions, only the alleviation of these tensions will lead to Sansal’s release. However, it appears unlikely that relations will improve in the near future.
France24, Maghrebi
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