Court Jails French-Algerian Writer For Five Years As Macron Calls For Release

An Algerian court on Thursday sentenced French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal to five years in prison, an AFP journalist inside the courtroom reported.

Sansal, known for his criticism of both Algerian authorities and Islamists, was arrested in November.

He stood trial for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity after stating in an interview with a far-right French media outlet that France unfairly ceded Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial era.

The remark, which aligned with a long-standing Moroccan claim, was seen by Algeria as an affront to its national sovereignty.

Sansal’s arrest in Algiers has further strained diplomatic relations between Algeria and France, with analysts describing the current rift as the worst in years.

A court in Dar El Beida, near Algiers, sentenced him to five years in prison and fined him 500,000 Algerian dinars ($3,730).

Last week, prosecutors had sought a 10-year sentence for the novelist, whose works have remained available in Algeria despite his government criticism.

Though Sansal was relatively unknown in France before his arrest, the trial has drawn strong support from French intellectuals and officials.

French President Emmanuel Macron dismissed the accusations against Sansal as “not serious” but expressed confidence in Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s “clarity of vision” on the matter.

Macron has repeatedly urged Sansal’s release, citing concerns over his fragile health due to cancer.

Sansal’s French lawyer, Francois Zimeray, condemned the decision in a post on X as “a sentence that betrays the very meaning of the word justice.