Imprisonment of Boualem Sansal in Algeria: Writer sentenced to five years in prison on appeal, François Bayrou hopes for "pardons"

The Franco-Algerian, detained since mid-November, is accused of "undermining national unity." The Algerian courts upheld the sentence imposed at first instance in March.
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Boualem Sansal remains in prison in Algeria. The Algiers Court of Appeal upheld the Franco-Algerian writer's five-year prison sentence on Tuesday, July 1, according to an AFP correspondent present in the courtroom. Detained since mid-November, he is accused of "undermining national unity," "insulting a constituted body," "practices likely to harm the national economy," and "possession of videos and publications threatening the security and stability of the country."
At first instance, on March 27, Boualem Sansal had already been sentenced to five years in prison by the Dar El Beida court, near Algiers, in particular for statements made in October 2024 to the French far-right media outlet Frontières, in which he believed that Algeria had inherited territories that had previously belonged to Morocco under French colonization.
The 80-year-old writer, who according to his relatives has prostate cancer, has been the subject of a bitter diplomatic struggle between Algeria and France since his arrest in Algiers on November 16, 2024. Questioned during his appeal trial about his statement on borders, Boualem Sansal replied: "I don't just do politics. I also express myself on history," invoking the right guaranteed by the Algerian Constitution "to freedom of expression."
François Bayrou reacted by denouncing the "unbearable" situation of Boualem Sansal, but expressed hope for a positive outcome: "Now that there has been a conviction, we can imagine that clemency measures, particularly based on the health of our compatriot, will be taken," he declared, on the sidelines of a trip devoted to the heatwave.
" I know that all executive bodies, from the President of the Republic to the government, are acting in this direction, so that humanity triumphs," added the Prime Minister. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who had defended a "graduated response" towards Algeria in this affair, affirmed that he did not want to "waste any opportunity, particularly between now and the end of the week, for Boualem Sansal to be released." The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs deemed this judicial decision "both incomprehensible and unjustified," in a statement.
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