Boualem Sansal in prison in Algeria: the sentence he risks outrages his supporters

Placed in detention in Algeria, the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal is accused of “attacking the integrity of the national territory”, which is considered a terrorist act. He thus risks life imprisonment, or even the death penalty.

The charges brought against Boualem Sansal on November 26 are particularly serious. While the 75-year-old Franco-Algerian writer was heard Tuesday by the anti-terrorism prosecutor's office in Algiers, about ten days after being arrested upon his arrival at Algiers airport, Boualem Sansal was placed under arrest warrant. He “is now being held in detention under Article 87bis of the Algerian Penal Code, which punishes all attacks on state security,” revealed his lawyer in France, Mr. François Zimeray, as reported by Le Figaro. As specified by the official media of the Algerian government, El Moudjahid, the writer is being prosecuted on several counts including that of “attacking the integrity of the national territory”, assimilated to an act of “terrorism”, specifies Le Monde. He thus risks life imprisonment, or even the death penalty. It should be noted, however, that no execution has taken place in Algeria for over thirty years.

His supporters did not fail to react this Tuesday evening. On X, French MP Eric Ciotti deplored the news, asking “the Prime Minister to act now to demand the release of one of our compatriots”. And to add: “Freedom of expression is not a crime, it is a right!” For his part, the mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, estimated in the program Esprits Libres that "Boualem Sansal has nothing à do in prison. For him, Paris must “"be able to show that we still have diplomatic influence".

What are the facts reproached to Boualem Sansal ?

In the sights of Algiers, remarks made by Boualem Sansal to ;egrave;s of the far-right media Frontières. In an interview published on October 2, the writer defended the Moroccan position on the very sensitive subject of the border between the 39;Algeria and Morocco. Boualem Sansal believed in particular that when "France colonized'Algeria, the entire western part of Algeria was part of Morocco: Tlemcen, Oran and even up to Mascara […]. When France colonized Algeria, it established itself as a protectorate in Morocco and decided, as it did, arbitrarily, to attach the whole of east of Morocco to Algeria, drawing a border.” According to him, “the Algerian regime eacute;rien, which is a military regime, [would have] invented the Polisario [the Western Sahara independence movement, editor's note] to “destabilize Morocco”. These remarks come in an already tense context, with Paris having recognized on July 30th Moroccan “sovereignty over Western Sahara” quot;.