Ten days after his disappearance, we still do not have precise information on the fate of the Franco-Algerian writer, Boualem Sansal.
According to his lawyer, François Zimeray, mandated by the French publishing house Gallimard, he was to be presented yesterday, Monday, before the public prosecutor in Algiers, but this presentation obviously did not take place.
Arrested on November 16 at Algiers airport coming from France, Boualem Sansal has not given any sign of life since. No information was leaked about his fate, nor his whereabouts, even less the facts with which he is accused.
According to Algerian television, the author of the “oath of the barbarians” faces serious accusations, including “attack on territorial integrity”, undoubtedly in reference to statements to a far-right media outlet “borders” where he called into question the Algerian borders.
Invited Monday by the BFM TV channel, his lawyer declared that he was receiving “conflicting information” from Algiers. Zimeray previously said he had “no specific news” to communicate.
Last Friday, the Algerian press agency APS confirmed the “arrest” of the writer, without specifying a date or the procedures taken against him.
Determined to assert his client’s rights, particularly those of having a defense, Zimeray has not ruled out recourse to UN authorities. “We will activate the special procedures of the United Nations with the High Commission for Human Rights,” said the lawyer. “I hope I don’t need to resort to his extremities,” he added, however.
In the same vein, he believes that we must “remain within the Algerian procedural framework”. “That’s why I’m impatiently waiting for an Algerian defense team of colleagues, with whom I could get in touch, to be formed and that’s why I’m in contact with the President of Algiers », continued Me Zimeray.
Since the revelation of the affair, Sansal’s arrest has caused an outcry on the web, with many accusing him of “high treason”. They criticize him in particular for repeating the Moroccan narrative according to which the country’s territory was truncated under French colonization for the benefit of Algeria.
Others, on the other hand, notably among human rights defenders, condemn the arrest of the writer “for remarks”. They find that “the arrest of a writer for his opinions violates fundamental freedoms”.
In France, particularly among the far right, many have given their support to Sansal and called on President Macron who said he was “concerned” and would do everything to obtain his release.
