An Algerian court sentenced French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal to five years in prison on Thursday under anti-terrorism laws.
Sansal, a critic of the Algerian government, was arrested at Algiers Airport last November and charged with “undermining national unity and publishing publications that threaten national security and stability.”
France condemned his imprisonment and sentencing.
“I hope there can be humanitarian decisions by the highest Algerian authorities to give him back his freedom and allow him to be treated for the disease he is fighting,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.
Why was Sansal detained?
Sansal was arrested after he told a far-right French media outlet that, during the colonial era, France gave too much land to Algeria and too little to Morocco.
Diagnosed with cancer, the 76-year-old has spent time in the hospital during his detention.
Algerian newspaper Echorouk reported that Sansal denied the charges against him, saying he merely “expressed an opinion” in the name of “freedom of expression.”
The court in Dar El Beida disagreed and sentenced him to five years in prison and a fine of about $3,700 (€3,431).
Trial sparked a wave of support in France
Relations between Paris and Algiers have been strained since President Macron recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara in July last year.
Western Sahara is mostly controlled by Morocco but claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.
Even before his arrest Sansal’s books have landed him on the index of banned authors in Algeria, but he regularly travelled between Paris and Algiers without issue. He has frequently critiqued Algeria’s post-revolution leaders and the role of Islam in society.
Both Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen called for his release, as did the literary association PEN International and French-Algerian novelist Kamel Daoud.
Macron last week told reporters in Brussels that he hoped Sansal would soon be released and that he trusted Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
In December, Tebboune called Sansal “an impostor who doesn’t know his identity, his father and just said that half of Algeria was part of another country.”
Edited by: Zac Crellin
