A year after being jailed in Algeria, Boualem Sansal delivered his first public remarks since regaining his freedom. The French-Algerian writer reflects on the reasons behind his arrest and the diplomatic rift between Paris and Algiers.
In his first public remarks since being freed by Algeria and returning to France, French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal said on Sunday that he had always sought “reconciliation” between the two countries, while acknowledging that diplomatic sensitivities still constrain what he can say.
Imprisoned in Algeria for a year over comments he made about his native country, the 81-year-old writer was released on November 12. He was pardoned by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who responded positively to a request from German authorities.
A dissident writer and a polemicist celebrated by segments of the French right, Sansal had been serving a five-year sentence in Algeria, notably for “undermining national unity.”
He had been convicted for remarks he made in October 2024 to the far-right French outlet Frontières, claiming that Algeria had inherited regions that previously belonged, in his view, to Morocco during the French colonial period.
“I’ve always supported reconciliation between France and Algeria,” Sansal said on the public broadcaster France 2, arguing that the two countries “missed their opportunity” after Algeria won independence in 1962.
“Sixty years have passed, and we’re still recycling liberation-war rhetoric,” he lamented.
Is his speech now constrained by diplomatic pressure? “Yes, in a way. I’m not speaking to you as naturally as I would... I’m weighing every word,” he admitted.
At the center of a diplomatic crisis between Algiers and Paris, Sansal returned to France on Tuesday after first being transferred to Berlin for medical treatment. Upon his arrival in Paris, he was received by French President Emmanuel Macron.
He believes France’s stance on Western Sahara—a long-running flashpoint between Algeria and Morocco—played a role in his arrest.
In late July 2024, the French president publicly endorsed a Moroccan-proposed autonomy plan for Western Sahara, a territory claimed for 50 years by the Polisario Front, which is backed by Algeria.
“That’s where it all started,” Sansal argued, saying it triggered “a war” between France and Algeria.
Now “in good health” after receiving “remarkable” treatment for prostate cancer, he said he only learned of his impending release “the day before.”
A former senior civil servant in Algeria, he had been arrested on November 16, 2024, upon landing at Algiers airport—an event that deepened the diplomatic chill between France and its former colony.
With AFP
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