Appointed president of the Académie Goncourt on May 13, 2024, the writer and director Philippe Claudel gave an interview to the Culture department of France Télévisions on Wednesday, November 27, in a Parisian café. He tells us of his very serious concern regarding the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal. The author, aged 75, was arrested on Saturday November 16, upon his arrival in Algeria from France, and placed under arrest warrant for “endangering state security”.
Franceinfo Culture: Do you have any news from Boualem Sansal?
Philippe Claudel : Unfortunately, no more than the ones everyone has. We learned yesterday that he had been charged. This is the first time that we have had official news from the Algerian justice system. I know that obviously the Quai d'Orsay and the Presidency of the Republic are doing everything to have more precise information and to ensure that Boualem Sansal returns to France.
How do you feel about what is happening to him?
A feeling of amazement. We're not quite the same age, but we started publishing at the same time, in 1999. We've known each other since then. I absolutely did not imagine that one day, I would have one of my colleagues prey to blind justice, and in any case, irrational, on a pretext that seems extremely flimsy to me. I also have a feeling of great concern since you have a government, a State, which is detaining, without providing information, a citizen. This is extremely worrying and it’s happening close to home. We are two brother countries, two friendly countries, two countries linked by a difficult history, but we know each other, we respect each other. We have this pain from the war of decolonization, but I believe that we have a lot of mutual respect.
You seem upset…
Yes. Since I learned that he had been arrested, I, who am a fairly solid person, have been really disturbed in my daily life. It's true that I constantly think about Boualem Sansal and that I can't realize things.
Is this a form of hostage taking?
I believe that Boualem Sansal is the victim of an increasingly tense situation between France and Algeria. I add, and I know this as president of the Goncourt Academy, that the award of the Goncourt 2024 to Kamel Daoud for his novel Houris greatly displeased the Algerian authorities and I wonder if, to a certain extent, Boualem is not also a collateral victim of this. He is the victim of a global atmosphere and that is also what is unbearable. No individual, whoever they may be, should be the victim of issues beyond their control.
Is the fact that he's old even more shocking?
Indeed, Boualem Sansal is no longer young. Finding himself arrested upon his arrival in his country of origin, held incommunicado without the assistance of any lawyer, without having any news of him, without him being able to give any to his family and today under the head of an indictment which still seems absolutely far-fetched to us, all of this is very worrying and we can't wait to know how he is, what his morale is. And above all, I hope he knows we are thinking of him. There is an international movement of intellectuals, politicians, writers, citizens who care about its fate.
What can be done concretely? Academician Jean-Christophe Rufin suggested appointing him to the French Academy…
It's true that symbolically, it's strong, but such decisions should not work against him. We are in a minefield, flammable, we can feel it. We must therefore be careful with all initiatives so as not to further offend an Algerian government which seems extremely tense and trust in words, in discussion, in humanism, in intelligence to quickly find a solution.
Is Boualem Sansal a big risk?
Yes, if we stick to Algerian legislation, the penalties incurred are enormous. Up to the death penalty, even if we know that since 1993, it has never been applied, fortunately. We are also talking about life imprisonment and, at a minimum, five years in prison, which is considerable and under a rather curious charge, a sort of questioning of national integrity. It seems ludicrous.
What are you going to do to try to get him out of there?
There is a general movement that is intellectual, literary, political (…) but what can we do if not express good intentions and this humanist desire, the right to speak, the right to opinion, whatever Whether the right to inspect a history, was it painful, a sacred right of our democracies? If a State does not recognize it, it places itself outside the democratic field. So, we are mobilizing, but we also trust our rule of law to ensure that he is released as quickly as possible.
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