French clemency plea after writer's five-year jail term in Algeria upheld

Interior Minister calls for Boualem Sansal to be freed on Algerian independence day

A mural of Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal displayed on a bridge in Beziers, southern France. AFP

France on Tuesday urged Algeria to show clemency after an Algerian court upheld a five-year prison sentence imposed on writer Boualem Sansal.

The conviction and sentencing of Mr Sansal, 80, a Franco-Algerian, who is known to be suffering from cancer, has exacerbated tension between the two countries whose relations have reached an all-time low.

Public support for detained Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal on the streets of Paris. Reuters

The Foreign Ministry described the Algerian court's decision as "incomprehensible and unjustified". It added: "France calls on Algerian authorities to show clemency and find a swift, humane and dignified solution to our compatriot's situation, taking into account his health and humanitarian considerations. We hope that he will be released and receive treatment."

The fate of Mr Sansal has made headlines in France, where his supporters include Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau. Speaking to radio France Inter on Tuesday, Mr Retailleau said he hoped the writer would be freed by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Friday, which is also Algeria’s independence day and routinely when the government pardons some prisoners.

The scene of a fatal stabbing in February in the eastern French city of Mulhouse, over which an Algerian was arrested. AFP

At a hearing last week, prosecutors requested the maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, after Mr Sansal had appealed his five-year sentence in March.

He had been charged under Algeria’s anti-terrorism laws and convicted of “undermining national unity". His arrest during a visit to Algeria in November appeared to be linked to his support of Morocco's sovereignty over the Sahara region in a media interview.

The territorial dispute has long been a cornerstone of Algerian foreign policy, and Algeria reacted with outrage after French President Emmanuel Macron last year recognised Morocco's sovereignty over the region. Algeria withdrew its ambassador to France in protest.

Algeria and France have since struggled to resume diplomatic relations. They slumped after it emerged Algeria had repeatedly refused to take back one of its citizens living illegally in France, who in February was arrested over a fatal stabbing in the eastern French city of Mulhouse. France, meanwhile, ordered investigations into a number of Algerian influencers suspected of propagating hate speech online.

In April, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot succeeded in smoothing things over during a state visit, only for the situation to sour again after Algeria expelled 12 French officials from the embassy in Algiers in protest over the arrest of three Algerians in France accused of orchestrating the kidnapping of a government critic. French diplomats have said such a move was unfair because the arrests were linked to a judicial, not a political, decision.