Disappearance of Boualem Sansal in Algeria: “Every time someone spoke out against a repressive system, we tried to intimidate them,” worries Jean-Marc Pujol, former mayor of Perpignan, close to the writer

The 75-year-old author, who obtained French nationality in 2024, was arrested on Saturday at Algiers airport, coming from France, several French media reported. The reasons for his arrest are not known. According to the weekly Marianne, he “had no longer given any news to his loved ones since his arrival in Algiers.”

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Disappearance of Boualem Sansal: the writer would have been arrested in Algeria, Emmanuel Macron “very concerned”

This Friday, Jean-Marc Pujol, who says he is very close to Boualem Sansal for more than 20 years, confirms. “I can’t reach him anymore,” says the former mayor of Perpignan. He is worried about the fate of this “free spirit breaking with the leaden screed that weighs on the Algerians”.

“Something happened”assures the current opposition municipal councilor while no one knows what happened to the 2022 winner of the Mediterranean Literature Prize awarded by the Mediterranean Literature Center (CML) of Perpignan. “At least intimidation, at most confinement”fears Jean-Marc Pujol.

“Like Solzhenitsyn”

“He never took a political position, but his expression is an expression of freedom which in other times caused writers like Solzhenitsyn to be repressed”adds the community councilor of Perpignan.

More “Boualem did not want to leave Algeria”, he assures. “He had already stayed in his country during the civil war and had the will to stay to enlighten his compatriots. Every time someone spoke out against a repressive system, they tried to intimidate and silence them Next“, analyzes the elected representative from Perpignan.

Already, Jean-Marc Pujol, who called on the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister to “get involved in this issue”, indicates that it is in the process of creating a support committee for Boualem Sansal.

“In Algeria, freedom of expression does not exist”

“This arrest is extremely worrying, but not surprising in all these countries – from Algeria to Turkey (with the exception of Morocco) – which are gradually sliding into totalitarianism”Jean-Jacques Bedu reacted on November 22.

“In Algeria, freedom of expression does not exist, and Boualem – a controversial author in this country – says out loud what everyone is thinking”assures the founder and secretary general of the “Grand Prix Méditerranéen de literature et de spiritualité”.

Il notice that “this arrest takes place in a context of diplomatic tensions between France and Algeria, particularly linked to the French position on Western Sahara.”

“Recently naturalized French, Boualem Sansal had expressed his intention to settle in France”he adds.

“He is a very courageous and talented man. Thank God we are no longer in the 'black decade', and he will not suffer the same fate as Tahar Djaout (victim of an attack in 1993, Editor’s note),” he hopes. “My feeling is that he is paying a high price for Kamel Daoud’s well-deserved Goncourt.” And to conclude : “He is in a way a scapegoat. The entire French political class – and especially on the left – must mobilize and put pressure on the executive.”