Gathered in plenary session a few days after the confirmation of Sansal’s incarceration, in a hemicycle which, every month, resonates with the defense of human rights in the city and the worldthe reaction of MEPs was eagerly awaited. Certainly, the French-language writer has benefited, since the absurd news of his arrest, from broad support from the cultural community.
In France, first, where his abundant literary production – in the prestigious Gallimard house – has earned him two literary prizes, and today the mobilization of his peers, up to the beautiful proposal from Jean-Christophe Rufin to his colleagues of the French Academy, to make him “immortal”; and beyond, in the vast French-speaking world where, in the words of Cioran “we don’t live in a country, we live in a language“. He who, confessing “I am in love with the French language“, add “love cannot be explained“, says on the contrary, through its fidelity to this language and written literature, according to its publisher, “in the light of Enlightenment», how French remains the language of freedom.
But Boualem Sansal cannot be confined within the borders of the French-speaking world. To get him out alive from the trap into which he has unfortunately fallen, we must extract him from a deadly tête-à-tête between Paris and Algiers, where the French-speaking pen becomes, for those who live on memorial income, “a spoil of war”, like the language he cherishes.
Certainly Franco-Algerian, Sansal is also a European writer. First, he is translated into the main languages of Europe, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, etc., and his work has been awarded literary prizes in Belgium and Germany. Above all, in all languages of translation, he defends freedom “a freedom that Europe must value more than anything” recalled the other evening a MEP who is also a philosopher. His works question the old continent about its identity and its values. His words and writings are also those of a whistleblower on the ravages of massive immigration, both for the host countries.who are radicalized» than for those at the start “who bleed out“, and offer the testimony of a free spirit on the Islamist threat, to a West which “already, seeks to negotiate to delay the end and preserve his little habits of unrepentant sybarite».
“It is now on both sides, economic and political, that the European institutions must act. The European Parliament can continue the fight for Sansal, in the Foreign Affairs Committee, and in an interparliamentary delegation with Algerian deputies.
Yes, Sansal speaks to all Europeans… But who in the EU speaks about Sansal? If the debate initiated in Strasbourg is laudable – initially called for by ECR, it was ultimately supported by all the groups – it must also be seen in the light of the list of registered speakers. Of the twenty minutes devoted to the fate of Boualem Sansal, and to criticism of the Algerian regime even within the ranks of the Greens, ten deputies spoke: eight French, a Greek socialist and a Finnish conservative. No Belgian MP, while their country – and the capital of Europe – refuses to organize a football match between the national team and the Israeli team! Not a German MP to pay tribute to the only Algerian writer who dared to address the taboo of the Shoah! No Czech MP while Sansal, signing in Prague for the publication of German Village, had described the Czechia as a “second country”, that of the mother of his daughters! Eight French people, from 6 political groups: the elected representatives of “The Left” were missing. The revolutionaries of their French delegation had better things to do during this plenary than to defend a compatriot imprisoned in Algeria. Manon Aubry communicated on the defense of freedom of expression… in Hong Kong and Cambodia! Rima Hassan was in the hemicycle for the debate preceding the one intended for Sansal, calling for support “all true allies in the fight for freedom”… Iranian women. Should we recall that the young parliamentarian began her mandate last summer with a trip to Algiers, which she described as the “Mecca of Freedom”?
Commissioner Dalli closed the debate by promising to “follow closely» the Sansal file. However, Europe must not just follow. It has levers, first of all an association agreement, already very damaged by Algeria which is playing on the nerves of the European Commission and the economic players of the Member States. Brussels initiated proceedings against Algiers last June for obstructing European exports and investments. It is now on both sides, economic and political, that the European institutions must act. The European Parliament can continue the fight for Sansal, in the Foreign Affairs Committee, and in an interparliamentary delegation with Algerian deputies. And, fortunately in the calendar, MEPs have a first immediate means of action: refuse to sponsor the renewal in December, for the duration of the mandate, of the “Western Sahara” intergroup, a tool of Algerian influence at the heart of the Parliament which contravenes the rules of transparency of the Assembly and its internal regulations.
Will the EU work, by all means, to free Boualem Sansal? Or finally give reason to this old wise man, prophet in his countries, for whom “understanding its own values less and less, Europe has put in place numerous coercive devices to deny reality and live in the illusion and happy submission dear to La Boétie. It’s very Orwellian. We talk about political correctness but there is also philosophical, social, artistic and journalistic correctness. This business is the death of the spirit. Europe is beautiful, but it’s also stupid».
