Awarded the Grand Prix du roman from the French Academy in 2015 and censored in Algeria, the author was arrested on November 16 near Algiers. His hostility towards the regime could be blamed on him.
He hadn’t given any sign of life for six days. Boualem Sansal, a Franco-Algerian writer, was “arrested by the police and imprisoned by the Algerian regime”, according to information from Marianne. A data that confirms RFIadding that the 75-year-old man was arrested in Dar El Beida, east of the Algerian capital, “a few minutes after leaving Houari Boumédiène international airport, on Saturday November 16, 2024”. The media specifies that the author should be presented to the public prosecutor of Algiers or Boumerdès.
In the crosshairs of the Algerian authorities
A successful writer, Boualem Sansal is known for his critical stance towards the Algerian regime and Islamism. Several of his books have even been censored in Algeria, but are, for example, published in France. In 2015, he won the Grand Prix du roman from the Académie française for his novel 2084: the end of the worldpublished by Gallimard. Despite the threats, he never agreed to give in to pressure from Algiers and even returned “regularly” to his country, says Marianne.
For the moment, the reasons for the arrest of Boualem Sansal have not been made official by the Algerian authorities. According to RFI, the man who now has French nationality – since 2024 – should be arrested at his words held in the columns of the far-right French media, BordersDecember 15, 2023: “When France colonized Algeria, the entire western part of Algeria was part of Morocco: Tlemcem, Oran and even as far as Mascara. This entire region was part of the kingdom,” had- he declared. A highly flammable subject in Algeria, and taken up by the Moroccan media.
From 2003, Boualem Sansal was in the sights of the Algerian authorities. His book Tell me heaven – drawing a critical observation of post-colonial Algeria – had cost him his position as Director General at the Ministry of Industry. And it is not an isolated case. The last Goncourt Prize, awarded to the Algerian Kamel Daoud for his novel Houriswas not welcomed as a victory in his country. Two complaints have been filed against him, he is notably accused by a victim of the civil war of having exploited his story.
Tense relations between Paris and Algiers, Macron “very worried”
From now on, the fate of the Franco-Algerian is worrying. Indeed, his arrest comes in a tense context between France and Algeria. The Algerian authorities did not digest Emmanuel Macron’s support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for the disputed territory of Western Sahara last July. A former Spanish enclave, this area is mainly controlled by Morocco, but claimed by the Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front, supported by Algiers. Since the French head of state recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over this territory, Paris’ neutrality is no longer and relations with Algiers are delicate.
The fate of Boualem Sansal is taken seriously. The tenant of the Élysée said he was “very worried” through his entourage to AFP. “The President of the Republic expresses his unwavering attachment to the freedom of a great writer and intellectual,” it was specified. For his part, the boss of the deputies The RepublicansLaurent Wauquiez, affirms that “all means of pressure on Algeria must be activated to obtain the release of our compatriot”. In a forum given to Figarothe winner of the 2024 Goncourt Prize, Kamel Daoud, “very much hopes that his friend Boualem Sansal will return among us very soon”. According to RFI, Boualem Sansal could be prosecuted for “undermining national unity and the territorial integrity of the country” and “inciting the division of the country”, charges punishable by prison sentences in Algeria.