Franco-Algerian author Boualem Sansal granted pardon after a year in detention

Wednesday 12 November 2025 - 14:00

By: Sahili Aya

Franco-Algerian author Boualem Sansal granted pardon after a year in detention

After nearly a year in detention, renowned Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, 76, who suffers from prostate cancer, has been pardoned by Algerian authorities and will be transferred to Germany for medical treatment.

According to an official statement from the Algerian presidency, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune “responded favorably” to a request made by his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, seeking a humanitarian pardon for Sansal.

“The president acted on this request, which drew his attention due to its nature and humanitarian grounds,” the communiqué said. Steinmeier had asked that Sansal, sentenced in July to five years in prison, be allowed to receive medical care in Germany “given his advanced age and fragile health.”

Sansal’s arrest in November 2024, just before attending the Algiers Book Fair, came amid heightened diplomatic tensions between Algeria and France. He was charged with “undermining national unity” following statements he made to the far-right French outlet Frontières, where he claimed that “under French colonization, Algeria inherited territories that previously belonged to Morocco.”

Despite his deteriorating health, Sansal was not included in the presidential mass pardons issued last July on the eve of Algeria’s Independence Day. His imprisonment had drawn strong international condemnation and support from literary and human rights communities.

Earlier this year, Sansal was elected to the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium, in recognition of his literary and moral courage.