Emmanuel Macron said Thursday March 20 wish to “a quick outcome” so that the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal could “regain his freedom”, after the requisitions of ten years in prison pronounced during his trial to involve the territorial integrity of Algeria. “What happened is very serious”, “but I have confidence in the president (Algerian Abdelmajid) Tebboune and his clairvoyance to know that all of this is not serious and that we are dealing with a great writer, more sick,” said the French head of state before the press after a European summit in Brussels.
Prayed to say if he had spoken about it with his counterpart, he replied that “several messages” had been “exchanged”. “Our wish is that Boualem Sansal can be treated, released and go where he wants to go. And therefore, if he wishes to leave Algeria, to leave it,” said Emmanuel Macron “I wish we can find a rapid way to this situation which is a human, humanitarian and dignity situation”, “it is also very important for Algeria”, he pleaded.
The prosecution of a court near Algiers requested Thursday ten years in prison against Boualem Sansal, accused of attacking the territorial integrity of Algeria, whose case has built already strong tensions between Algiers and Paris.
The French Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, multiplied the virulent statements against Algeria also on the migratory front, threatening to repeal bilateral agreements within the framework of a “graduated response”. Asked about this “graduated response”, Emmanuel Macron did not want to rule on Thursday evening. “I will not mix” the “destiny of this great writer, this man and this French citizen” with “the rest of the subject on which I will have the opportunity to express myself in due course,” he said.
Judgment expected on March 27
The Criminal Court of Dar El Beida will rendered its judgment on March 27 in the novelist’s trial, known for its criticisms of Algerian power and Islamists, imprisoned since November 16 in Algiers. Boualem Sansal, 80 years old according to his French publisher Gallimard, was accused, among other things, of “damage to national unity, constituted body outrage, practices likely to harm the national economy and detention of videos and publications threatening the security and stability of the country”.
The trial took place “this Thursday under ordinary conditions, without specific provisions”, according to the Arabic -speaking newspaper Echoroukwho noted that Boualem Sansal had “preferred to ensure his defense”, without resorting to a lawyer. In a press release received by AFP, his French lawyer, Me François Zimeray, denounced “a ghost trial held in the greatest secrecy, defenseless, incompatible with the very idea of justice”, recalling having seized “the competent bodies of the UN High Commission of Human Rights of a complaint against Algeria” for arbitrary detention.
According to a journalist fromEchoroukBoualem Sansal appeared “in good health” and denied before the court for any intention to undermine Algeria, ensuring that “express an opinion like any Algerian citizen”. According to the same source, he said he did not imagine that his statements could affect Algerian institutions.