US EditionGerman President Asks Algeria To Pardon Writer Boualem Sansal
German President Steinmeier urged Algeria to pardon Boualem Sansal and offered medical relocation due to his prostate cancer and fragile health, highlighting free expression concerns.
- On Monday, November 10, German President Frank‑Walter Steinmeier asked Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to pardon French‑Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, framing it as `a humanitarian gesture` and offering Sansal's relocation to Germany for medical care.
- The case dates to 2021 when Boualem Sansal was sentenced to two months for `contempt of body` and `defamation` after criticizing Said Chengriha, and the conviction remains on his record.
- Sansal, a prize-winning Franco-Algerian writer, began writing in his late 40s and became a fearless critic whose books, including The Village of the German and 2084: The End of the World, faced bans and safety concerns.
- A pardon would signal to critics that Algeria might tolerate its most critical thinkers, while France has urged leniency amid strained France‑Algeria relations.
- The case fits a pattern: in recent years Algeria has prosecuted journalists and activists under broad laws, and the dispute followed Sansal's remarks to Frontieres that Algeria views as challenging sovereignty.
20 Articles
20 Articles
The severely ill Algerian writer Boualem Sansal has been in prison for more than a year. Friends fear for his life. The German president surprises with an offer.
Berlin asks Algiers to pardon Boualem Sansal, 81 years old, because of his declining health. The request, made public, suggests a possible gesture by President Tebboune.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier is working with the President of Algeria for the release of Boualem Sansal. In view of his state of health, the Federal President is said to have proposed an exit to Germany.
Germany asks Algiers to pardon Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune to pardon French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal on Monday. Sansal is serving a prison term in Algeria over controversial comments that have damaged France-Algeria relations.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier today urged Abdelmadjid Tebboune to "a humanitarian gesture" for the writer who has been imprisoned for a year and at the heart of a serious diplomatic crisis between Algiers and Paris.
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