Boualem Sansal arrested in Algeria, his lawyer thinks he “risks ending his life in prison”

CULTURE – He expects the worst. This Monday, November 25, Maître François Zimeray was invited on RTL and gave for the first time news of Boualem Sansal who has been imprisoned in Algeria for more than a week. The 75-year-old Franco-Algerian writer has disappeared since his arrest on November 16 at Algiers airport.

The lawyer, mandated by the Gallimard publishing house, indicated that if he is in the dark, this is also the case for Boualem Sansal himself. Before being presented this Monday afternoon to Algerian justice, he does not know the legal reason for which he was arrested and imprisoned. But for François Zimeray, there is no doubt that it is “ for all of his work “. That's to say ” for his freedom of tone, his freedom of spirit, his great independence, and obviously the criticisms that this freedom led him to formulate”.

Throughout his career, Boualem Sansal has openly criticized Islamism as well as the policies of the Algerian government, returning in his books to key moments in the country's history. According to The Worldethe arrest of Boualem Sansal could follow the author's statements to the far-right media Bordersin which he supported the Moroccan position according to which Moroccan territory would have been truncated under French colonization for the benefit of Algeria. According to the daily, it would be a “ red line » for Algiers, which could earn the writer accusations “ attack on national integrity ».

Algeria and its international commitments

Me Zimeray said on RTL that he wanted to stay “ extremely careful » in his remarks to prevent them from being used against Boualem Sansal. Indeed, according to him, the situation is very complex and the writer may never be released. Some of his relatives consider that he risks up to an extremely long life sentence or ending his days in prison, also taking into account his age. deplores the lawyer.

Whether he goes to Algiers himself or not, he indicates that his job consists of ensuring “ respect for the fundamental principles of law such as Algeria has subscribed to in the international commitments ratified by this country “. Which does not seem to be the case yet.

« Until now he has not had access to a defense. A lawyer will be appointed to him by the president of Algiers. It is very important that he is defended by an Algerian lawyer and if possible a lawyer of his choice. » specifies François Zimeray who nevertheless advances to note “ a subject of respect for the rights of the defense, without which there is no fair trial. » He also stressed that this trial would also depend “ the image that Algeria wants to send to the world ».

Boualem Sansal soon at the French Academy?

Since the announcement of Boualem Sansal's arrest, the literary world has mobilized widely to support him and call for his release. In a column published in The Pointat the initiative of the Algerian writer Kamel Daoud, Goncourt 2024 prize, many world-famous (and award-winning) authors including Annie Ernaux, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, Salman Rushdie and Roberto Saviano requested his “ immediate release “. In another column published in Le Figaro30 writers called “ the Algerian authorities and the highest among them, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, so that they ensure the physical protection and respect of the basic rights of (their) friend ».

Academician Jean-Christophe Rufin also called for an urgent vote for Boualem Sansal's entry into the French Academy. A proposal that the president of the Goncourt academy Philippe Claudel judged « formidable » at the microphone of Franceinfo. Boualem Sansal notably received the grand novel prize from the Académie française in 2015 for 2084: the end of the world.

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