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Join on Telegram Rabat — German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on his Algerian counterpart Monday to pardon French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who has spent a year behind bars in Algeria and now sits at the center of a severe diplomatic crisis between Algiers and Paris.
Steinmeier asked President Abdelmadjid Tebboune for a “humanitarian gesture” and proposed that Algeria transfer Sansal to Germany for medical care, citing the writer’s advanced age and fragile health.
“Such a gesture would express a humanitarian attitude and long-term political vision. It would reflect my longstanding personal relationship with President Tebboune and the good relations between our two countries,” the German president said in a statement.
Algerian authorities arrested the novelist and essayist, who is Franco-Algerian, in Algiers on November 16, 2024.
An appeals court sentenced him to five years in prison in July for statements he made suggesting that Algeria inherited territories from Morocco during French colonization.
France has actively pushed for Sansal’s release. Last Thursday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stressed that France maintains an “exigent dialogue” with Algiers to secure the writer’s freedom.
The case unfolds against a backdrop of deep hostility between Paris and Algiers. The two countries have struggled through an unprecedented diplomatic crisis for over a year.
Both sides have expelled officials, recalled their ambassadors, and imposed restrictions on diplomatic visa holders.
Algeria signals to resume dialogue
French officials have reported receiving signals from Algiers to resume dialogue after a year of diplomatic stalemate, demanding most importantly the release of Sensal and journalist Christophe Gleizes, who Algeria sentenced to seven years for accusations of “promoting terrorism.”
The head of France’s external intelligence service, DGSE, Nicolas Lerner, revealed the news, reminding Algiers that Paris has its own conditions for advancing the talks, describing the current stalemate as “an extremely serious crisis, perhaps the most serious crisis since Algeria’s independence” in 1962.
