Writer Boualem Sansal's fate hangs on a pardon

Seven and a half months after his arrest in Algiers, the French-Algerian writer, Boualem Sansal, has been sentenced to five years in prison, as reported by Le Monde on July 1st. His fate is at the heart of the diplomatic row that has been raging between Paris and Algiers for several months.

Sansal was sentenced July 1st, by the Algiers appeals court to 5 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 dinars, notably for “undermining national unity.” The sentence matched the one handed down at first instance, but was lighter than the request made by prosecutors, who on June 24th had sought 10 years in prison and a fine of one million dinars.

French Prime Minister François Bayrou was the first to react. “The situation facing Boualem Sansal is one that all French people and the French government find intolerable, and rightly so,” said Bayrou. “Now that a conviction has been handed down, we can imagine pardon measures, particularly in view of our compatriot’s health, will be taken.” The Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, could employ this measure of clemency on the occasion of Independence Day on July 5th.

The ruling is one of many recent prosecutions targeting academic and journalistic figures in Algeria. The French sportswriter, Christopher Gleizes, faces a 7-year prison sentence over alleged contact with a banned separatist group, while the Algerian historian, Mohamed El Amine Belghith, faces similar charges of “undermining national unity” after a televised interview on Emirati TV. Such arrests have incited criticism from rights advocates who say Algeria uses anti-terrorism laws to target political speech.

The situation is symbolic of the heightened tensions between France and Algeria in recent months, with the two sides criticizing each other and engaging in tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats.

Last year, Algeria’s government was furious when President Emmanuel Macron of France aligned with Morocco over Western Sahara, a disputed northern African territory that the Moroccan authorities claim but that is facing an Indigenous independence movement supported by Algeria.

Then, in October, Mr. Sansal gave an interview with a French right-wing news outlet in which he endorsed an argument that Algeria had benefited from French colonization, because it gained Western Saharan territory that once belonged to the kingdom of Morocco.

The 80-year-old writer was arrested upon returning to Algeria in November after the interview. Family members and French President, Emmanuel Macron have repeatedly raised concerns about Sansal’s health in prison due to his ongoing cancer treatment.

Le Monde, Maghrebi.org