Antoine Bienvault // Photo credit: Joël SAGET / AFP
12:15 p.m., November 23, 2024
Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal is indeed in prison, Algeria confirmed this Friday. The Algerian press agency confirmed the information in a press release, particularly to France, while remaining vague on the reasons for the arrest of the septuagenarian.
Boualem Sansal is indeed in prison. The information came on Friday evening via a press release from the Algerian public press agency, which also shocked France. In its press release, the Algerian public press agency TSA believes that the arrest of Boualem Sansal has “awakened professionals to indignation in France”. “The entire anti-Algerian community rose as one to defend this pseudo-intellectual,” asserts the Algerian authorities. They cite in particular Eric Zemmour and Valérie Pécresse, a supporter, according to the authorities, of a current of hatred towards Algeria.
A political arrest?
A press release soaked in vitriol which also scratches the main person concerned, Boualem Sansal. The writer is described as a revisionist and a useful puppet of the anti-Algerian lobby in France. Algiers does not in any way question his arrest and claims to have acted while respecting a principle of consistency.
But this arrest especially takes on a political dimension because tensions are high between Algeria and France, particularly since Emmanuel Macron's visit to Morocco. The president notably reaffirmed his support for Moroccan sovereignty in the highly disputed territory of Western Sahara. An act considered as a provocation by Algiers which could partly explain the arrest of Boualem Sansal.
Battle around Western Sahara
According to journalist Mohamed Sifaoui, himself targeted by the Algerian press release on Friday evening, the detention of the writer is intended to put pressure on Paris. “The arrest of Boualem Sansal is nothing other than a hostage-taking because it is a regime that cannot digest the French position with regard to Western Sahara. It is a rogue regime,” he told journalists.
In its press release, the Algerian public press agency also mentions the subject of Western Sahara half-heartedly, believing that France is calling into question the sovereignty and borders of Algeria.
