French President Emmanuel Macron says he hopes for a quick resolution so that Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal can regain his freedom, following a ten-year prison sentence request in his trial for violating Algeria’s territorial integrity.
Local media reports that Algerian prosecutors have requested a 10-year prison sentence for Sansal.
The writer, who is a prominent figure in North African modern francophone literature, is known for his criticism of Algerian authorities as well as that of Islamists.
The 80-year-old was detained in November upon arrival at Algiers airport, at a time of growing tensions between France and its former colony.
A verdict in the case, which has received widespread attention in France, is expected on March 27.
Reports have it that relations between France and Algeria have deteriorated since President Emmanuel Macron in July 2024 expressed support for Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
The former Spanish colony is mostly controlled by Morocco but claimed by the Algeria-backed pro-independence Polisario Front, which seeks a UN-backed self-determination referendum that has never materialised since a 1991 ceasefire.
Macron said Thursday he hoped for “a swift resolution” so that Sansal could “regain his freedom”.
“We are dealing with a great writer, who is also ill,” Macron told reporters in Brussels, saying he trusted that Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune would appreciate that the case had little basis.
According to the Algerian media outlet TSA, Sansal was charged with “affecting national unity, insulting a constitutional body, practices of a nature likely to harm the national economy, and possession of videos and publications threatening the security and stability of the country”.
Prosecutors accuse him of making statements undermining the country’s territorial integrity.
In an October interview with the far-right French media outlet Frontieres, Sansal said France had reduced Moroccan territory to the benefit of Algeria during its colonisation of North Africa.
According to French newspaper Le Monde, the comments infuriated authorities in Algeria.
