The Franco-Algerian intellectual could be presented to a prosecutor this Sunday, November 24.
The Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal was arrested upon his arrival at Algiers airport on Saturday November 16, 2024, from Paris.
The country's public press agency, APS, gave the information on Friday November 22 “in a vitriolic article”, indicates Le Figaro, which specifies that the writer, aged 75, will be presented before the prosecutor of the Republic, this Sunday, November 24.
According to Courrier international, he is accused of a “serious slip”, to use the words of the Algerian information site TSA. The assertion, in the far-right media Frontières, “that part of Algeria was attached to Morocco before independence”.
“Red line”
“A red line” for Algiers, says Le Figaro, which charges the writer with accusations of “terrorism” and “undermining state security, territorial integrity, stability or normal functioning of institutions. They can earn him a maximum prison sentence of life imprisonment.
Thursday, November 21, in the absence of information on the future of the writer, Emmanuel Macron's entourage indicated to Radio France that the President of the Republic was “very concerned by the disappearance of Boualem Sansal” and “was following the matter up close.”
The political class has also largely stepped up to the plate throughout the week. Former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe called for “ensuring that he can move freely and return to France whenever he wishes.”
“All means of pressure on Algeria must be activated to obtain the release of our compatriot, the great writer Boualem Sansal,” declared at the same time the leader of the LR deputies Laurent Wauquiez.
On Saturday November 16, Sansal's publishing house, Gallimard, denounced his “arrest by the Algerian security services” and demanded his “immediate release”.
This arrest comes in a climate of strong tensions between Algeria and France.
