Algerian Court Upholds 5-Year Prison Sentence for French-Algerian Writer Boualem Sansal

Watan-On Tuesday, the Algerian Court of Appeal issued a decision confirming the initial ruling against French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, sentencing him to five years of actual imprisonment. This means he will remain in prison and may further strain relations with France.

Sansal has the right to appeal this decision to Algeria’s Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court overturns the judgment, the case will be retried before a new panel of judges. If it rejects his appeal, the sentence will become final, opening the door to a possible presidential pardon—an exclusive power of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune under the constitution, but only after all legal avenues have been exhausted.

Sansal appeared alone—without a lawyer—before the Court of Appeal on the morning of Tuesday, June 24, defending himself and offering explanations for the shocking statements that were considered in Algeria as undermining national unity.

During the trial, he was questioned about his interview with the far-right newspaper Frontier, in which he made remarks concerning Algeria’s borders, especially the western ones. He explained: “I simply said that the current borders were drawn by the French and are a colonial legacy. I reminded the court that the African Union, after independence, affirmed the necessity of respecting colonial-inherited borders.”

The judge then reviewed some messages and correspondence Sansal exchanged with former French Ambassador to Algeria Xavier Driencourt and former French Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine, highlighting his comment: “We have the oil and Gaid Salah.” Sansal replied, “Those were private conversations, sometimes joking. I don’t see what is dangerous about them.”

Regarding his contacts with the MAK movement (classified as a terrorist organization in Algeria), he answered: “I speak with everyone.” The judge then surprised him by asking: “Have you ever visited Israel?” He replied: “Yes, in 2012.” Asked “In what capacity?” he said: “I was invited by both the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Israeli authorities.”

When asked if he still stood by his statements and positions, he calmly said: “Yes, I still believe them, but a person can change their mind in life.” The judge also wondered why he focused on politics instead of culture or literature: “Why not speak about literature and culture, rather than only domestic politics?” Sansal remained silent.

In her closing argument, the prosecutor recalled Sansal’s biography: “He was born, raised, educated, and treated in Algeria,” adding that “he never showed any gratitude to his country,” and therefore requested ten years of actual imprisonment and a fine of one million Algerian dinars.

When given the floor for his final statement, Sansal declared: “This is a trial of literature, which makes no sense. The Algerian constitution guarantees freedom of conscience, expression, and opinion, yet here I am before you.”

Sansal has been in detention after being convicted of “undermining national unity” and several related charges, following his statement attributing part of Algerian territory to Morocco. He was arrested on November 16, upon arrival at Algiers airport, after he questioned the legitimacy of Algeria’s current borders in an interview with a far-right channel. He was placed in pre-trial detention under Article 87 bis of the Algerian Penal Code, which punishes “acts threatening state security” as “terrorist acts.”

This case has exacerbated the crisis between Algeria and France, bringing tensions to a peak after President Emmanuel Macron’s remark that “it does Algeria no honor to imprison a writer,” which provoked strong reactions in Algeria. President Tebboune, for his part, described Sansal as an “anonymous thief” claiming that half of Algeria belongs to another state.

There was a glimmer of hope for Sansal’s release after the phone call between the Algerian and French presidents at the end of April, but everything reverted to square one following the fallout from the “Amir Dzayad” affair, closing the brief détente between the two countries.

Known for his controversial stances—some have even branded them “treasonous”—Sansal, who served as Director of Industry in the early 2000s, did not shy away from labeling Algeria’s revolutionary icons as terrorists and has promoted some of the most extreme theses on Islam under the guise of combating Islamism.