Rabat – French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal is set to take legal action against the Algerian regime, accusing Algiers of unjustly taking a year of his life.
Algeria’s regime freed Sansal after a year of detention in November 2025.
The regime had sentenced him to five years in prison last year in Algiers for allegedly “undermining national unity.” The prison sentence came after statements he made in an interview with news outlet Frontières, in which he criticized the Algerian regime and its policies.
Sansal was only freed after mounting pressure on Algeria’s regime to release the prominent writer.
On Friday, Sansal spoke about his detention, stating he was “assaulted by a government, a regime.”
“I want to go all the way and one day stand before international justice and demand accountability from the Algerian government,” Sansal said.
He said he wants to ask authorities at least two questions: “Why did you arrest me? Why did you take a year of my life?”
Sansal described the situation he endured as impossible to accept and stressed the importance of feeling supported by the international community.
“I feel like everyone was pushing me to accept the situation by talking about geostrategic considerations, but I don’t care about any of that. This is about me, my wife, my friends, and I want to fight,” he said.
Targeting journalists has become a common trend in Algeria.
Many observers and NGOs have been condemning the regime’s repression of opposition voices.
A group of UN experts expressed concerns over recurring cases, urging the international community to intervene to end the repressive use of anti-terrorism laws against protesters in Algeria.
In 2021, the experts condemned the use and “misappropriation of anti-terrorism laws” to prosecute those defending human rights, including journalists, in the North African country.
