Boualem Sansal free. He was arrested on November 16, 2024 in Algeria and sentenced to five years in prison for “undermining national unity”. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune agreed to pardon the French-Algerian writer, “responding favorably” to a request from his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The release brought a “feeling of relief, deep and sincere emotion” to Kamel Daoud, who added that “the freedom of a writer is the freedom of the whole people”. This announcement comes after several months of tension between Paris and Algeria over several issues, ranging from the 1968 Franco-Algerian immigration agreement to France’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. Winner of the Goncourt Prize 2024 – for his book Congregation – and columnist at Point hopes to see it as a first step towards more peaceful Franco-Algerian relations, “not only for bilateral relations, but most importantly for Algeria to restore its relations with the rest of the world”.
READ ALSO Boualem Sansal: secret negotiations that enabled his releaseBut “the relationship is complicated, and internal political calculations are still taking place in each country,” complained Kamel Daoud. “This is not the time to look for reasons for his release, but to welcome a writer to a free country. Boualem’s imprisonment does not shed light on what he wrote, but rather on what has happened in Algeria and what should happen.”
“The first thing we felt was the freedom to walk in the park”
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Kangaroo today
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A German military plane was scheduled to land in Algiers in the afternoon and take Boualem Sansal to Germany. There the writer had to receive hospital treatment first. During his imprisonment, his family repeatedly expressed concern for the health of Boualem Sansal, who was being treated for prostate cancer. What will he do after arriving in France? “He will meet his friends, his publisher, his relatives,” thought Kamel Daoud. When we leave prison, both physically and symbolically, the first thing we feel is the freedom to walk in the park, to sit without feeling oppressed. »
READ ALSO Kabyles, a nation that survived despite oppressionAnother French citizen, Christophe Gleizes, remains imprisoned in Algeria. The sports journalist was sentenced to seven years in prison on June 29 for “apologizing for terrorism” after making contact with the leader of the Kabyle football club. His appeal hearing has been set for December 3.
