The French-Algerian writer landed in Germany, where he will receive treatment

The writer, who was detained for a year in Algeria, will be treated in a hospital in Berlin, before being joined by his wife on Thursday, the German presidential spokesman told AFP.

He set foot in Europe for the first time in a year. French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who has been at the center of the diplomatic crisis between Algeria and Paris since his arrest on November 16, 2024, arrived in Berlin on Wednesday evening, November 12 to receive medical treatment, hours after the pardon granted by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

The writer’s transfer to Germany took place within a few hours. An adviser to the German president went to Algeria to accompany the writer aboard a German military plane that landed overnight at Berlin airport, the German president’s spokesman told AFP. AFP journalists present saw a convoy of three black vehicles leaving the airport, in which was French ambassador François Delattre.

Boualem Sansal, 81, will soon be treated at a hospital in the German capital, before being joined on Thursday by his wife, also from Algeria, the German president’s spokesman told AFP. One of the vehicles from the same convoy arrived shortly afterward at the German army hospital, located in central Berlin, an AFP journalist said.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune “responded well” at the request of his German colleague Frank-Walter Steinmeier, “about granting pardon to Boualem Sansal”shows a press release from Algerian authorities. Frank-Walter Steinmeier thanked Abdelmadjid Tebboune “for this important humanitarian act” which “also testifies to the quality of relations and trust between Germany and Algeria.” Visiting Toulouse, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his thanks “German good services” And “this humanitarian attitude” of the Algerian presidency, also considers that this release is “the fruit of France’s constant efforts and methods based on respect, calm and thoroughness”.

Amid a serious diplomatic crisis between Algiers and Paris, the novelist and essayist was arrested on 16 November 2024. The author, who was ill and imprisoned for “undermining national unity”, was sentenced to five years in prison following an appeal by the Algerian justice system on 1 July. Borderwhich Algeria inherited under French colonial territories such as Oran and Mascara which previously, he said, belonged to Morocco.

His family has repeatedly expressed concern for the health of the 81-year-old novelist and essayist who is being treated for prostate cancer. In an interview with AFP, one of his daughters, Sabeha Sansal, revealed this “very relaxing” and it “impatience” at the idea of ​​finding it.