Boualem Sansal

Boualem Sansal Calls for Bold Steps Toward Franco-Algerian Peace

“If there’s the will,” reconciliation between Algiers and Paris “can move very fast,” says French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal in an interview with AFP. According to him, Algerians “are eager for peace” with France. Released on November 12 after nearly a year in detention in Algeria, the novelist says it is up to leaders in both ...

Boualem Sansal Breaks His Silence After Release From Algerian Custody

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 ...

Boualem Sansal: Germany Appeals to Algeria for Franco-Algerian Novelist’s Pardon

Steinmeier's office said he had asked Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to pardon Sansal as "a humanitarian gesture." "Given Sansal's advanced age and fragile health condition," Steinmeier also "offered Sansal's relocation to Germany and subsequent medical care in our country." A pardon for Sansal ...

Boualem Sansal Elected to Belgium’s Royal Academy While Imprisoned

Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who has been imprisoned in Algeria for nearly a year, has been elected to the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium, the Academy’s permanent secretary Yves Namur told AFP on Sunday. “Boualem Sansal embodies the creative spirit of the writer, which is inseparable from the freedom it ...

Boualem Sansal Rejects Far-Right Nomination for Sakharov Prize

Franco-Algerian author Boualem Sansal has opposed his nomination for the 2025 Sakharov Prize by the far-right group in the European Parliament led by Jordan Bardella (RN), his publisher Gallimard confirmed on Monday. The group Patriots for Europe (PfE), which has 85 members of the European Parliament, put forward Sansal’s name for the annual ...

Avignon Honors Imprisoned Algerian Author Boualem Sansal Through Readings

Several cultural figures, including the president of the Avignon Festival, paid tribute on Wednesday to French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who was sentenced to five years in prison in Algeria. The tribute took place during an evening of readings from his works, AFP observed. The 80-year-old author has been imprisoned in Algeria for over seven ...

Algeria court upholds writer Sansal's five-year jail term

An Algerian court on Tuesday upheld a five-year prison sentence against dual-national author Boualem Sansal, whose case has strained ties with France. Sansal, 80, was first sentenced to five years behind bars on March 27 on charges related to undermining Algeria's territorial integrity over comments made to a French media outlet. The appeals ...

Algerian Court to Rule on Boualem Sansal’s Jail Appeal

An Algerian court is expected to deliver a verdict Tuesday on prosecutors' bid to double the jail term of a dual-national author whose conviction has strained ties with France. Boualem Sansal, 80, was first sentenced to five years behind bars on March 27 on charges related to undermining Algeria's territorial integrity over comments made to a ...

Boualem Sansal: A Silenced Voice Honored in Paris

Boualem Sansal, who has been jailed in Algeria for six months, was awarded the international Cino del Duca Prize on Wednesday. The French literary prize honors "the strength of a writer who (...) continues to make their free voice heard." Recognized for his entire body of work, Boualem Sansal joins the ranks of past laureates like Andrei ...

Boualem Sansal’s Speech for Freedom Published in Bookstores

This speech, given for “the German Publishers and Booksellers Peace Prize” and published in Gallimard’s Tracts collection, was originally delivered in Frankfurt, Germany, in October 2011. "The absence of freedom is a pain that drives one mad over time. It reduces a man to his shadow and his dreams to nightmares," Boualem Sansal declares in ...

Boualem Sansal: Five Years in Prison and an Unfolding Diplomatic Crisis

As Paris looked for signs of de-escalation from Algiers, the Dar al-Beïda court delivered its ruling. On Thursday, March 27, 2025, French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal was sentenced to five years in prison and fined 500,000 dinars (approximately €3,470). The sentence falls short of the ten-year term requested by the public prosecutor a week ...

Algeria Summons French Ambassador Over Accusations of Interference

Algeria's foreign ministry has summoned the French ambassador to reprimand him for what it described as efforts to destabilize the country, several Algerian media outlets reported on Sunday. The ambassador, Stéphane Romatet, was "informed of the firm disapproval of the highest Algerian authorities in response to numerous French provocations and ...