Mathilde Panot calls for the release of Boualem Sansal but accuses France of holding political prisoners

Rumors of his arrest by the Algerian authorities had sparked a wave of indignation within the French political class last Thursday. Since the confirmation of the pre-trial detention of Boualem Sansal in a penitentiary unit of a hospital in Algiers, requests for the release of the Franco-Algerian writer have multiplied. “As indicated by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron the State is mobilized so that Boualem Sansal is released and can reunite with his family in France as soon as possible.announced the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati this Thursday on X.

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But, if a large part of the political spectrum mobilized to demand the release of the novelist accused of“attacks on state security”part of the left remained more silent. Questioned on this subject this Thursday morning on FranceInfo, the Insoumise Mathilde Panot nevertheless assured that she was also asking for the “immediate release” from Boualem Sansal. “No one, least of all a writer perhaps, should be in prison and imprisoned for a crime of opinion”she said. Admitting a “derivative” of the Algerian regime, the leader of the deputies La France insoumise (LFI) nevertheless quickly deviated to the case of France, which she accuses of holding political prisoners. “We too have political prisoners. I just say that each country must look and sweep in front of its door”she replied.

Mathilde Panot cites as proof the detention of Kanak leader Christian Tein in mainland France, in the Mulhouse-Lutterbach prison (Haut-Rhin), since June 23. The independence activist is suspected of having orchestrated the riots which crossed New Caledonia last summer, and which left thirteen dead. “I am referring, for example, to President FLKNS [Front de libération nationale kanak et socialiste, ndlr.]therefore Kanak, who is currently in prison 17,000 km from the territory of Kanaky [Nouvelle-Calédonie, ndlr.]», she explained. Denouncing the outrage “variable geometry” of “the extreme right”the member for Val-de-Marne therefore called for “respect for human rights everywhere”demanding “that there are no more political prisoners whether in Algeria, in France or anywhere else.