Writer Boulem Sansal Denied Access to Legal Counsel and Sentenced to Five Years Imprisonment

An Algerian French writer, whose arrest in Algeria on accusations of undermining national unity and security inflamed tensions with France, was sentenced to five years in prison at the end of March (New York Times). 80 year old Mr Sansal has been diagnosed with cancer, and his age and declining health means he is unlikely to survive his sentence.

He was born in Algeria and became a French citizen last year, but was arrested in November 2024 because of statements he made to French news media siding with Morocco in a territorial dispute with Algeria. After Mr. Sansal was arrested upon his arrival in Algeria, his case drew condemnation from French lawmakers and intellectuals, as well as writers around the world. Winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature, including Annie Ernaux and Orhan Pamuk, and other noted authors like Salman Rushdie joined an opinion article by the French Algerian writer Kamel Daoud in Le Point news magazine, denouncing “editorial terrorism” in Algeria.

His sentencing came after months of pleas for his freedom from the French president, Emmanuel Macron. Speaking to reporters at a briefing, he called Mr. Sansal a “great writer” and, noting his poor health, urged his release.

“Cruel detention, 20 minutes of hearing, a forbidden defense and ultimately five years in prison for an innocent writer,” Mr. Zimeray, Sansal’s lawyer, said in a statement. The sentence, he said, “betrays the very meaning of the word justice.”

Mr. Sansal has long been outspoken about his opposition to Islamism and critical of the Algerian government. In 2012, he was denied the cash portion of a prize by the Arab Ambassadors Council in Paris after attending a writers festival in Jerusalem.

Mr. Sansal, who had been working as an engineer for the Algerian government, published his first book, “The Oath of the Barbarians,” in 1999. The novel was critical of Islamic fundamentalism and government repression, putting Mr. Sansal out of a job and paving the way for a second career as a writer and commentator.

Repression of Algerian journalists has been increasing in recent years. In 2019, mass protests forced Algeria’s president from power. His replacement, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who was elected with military support, has pushed the country toward harsher authoritarianism.

As the New York Times reports, dozens of journalists are believed to have been imprisoned in Algeria as the government has sought to prevent mass protests from flaring again, though the figures are murky given the difficulty of independent reporting, experts say.