On the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of Algerian independence, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune refused to include Boualem Sansal in the traditional wave of presidential graces of July 5. According to Le Parisien and AFP, the decrees published on Friday specify that the people definitively condemned for “damage to national unity” are excluded from any leniency measure. The writer, imprisoned since March and sentenced to five years in prison, therefore remains incarcerated.
This decision puts an end to the hopes, thin but tenacious, fed in recent weeks by his relatives, his daughters, and French officials. Prime Minister François Bayrou had publicly hoped for “grace measures”, calling Boualem Sansal’s detention as “unbearable”. But Algiers did not give in.
No cassation appeal for the writer
“It is unfortunately not a surprise,” reacts Arnaud Benedetti, member of his support committee, quoted by The Parisian. “We are disappointed and paid,” adds Noëlle Lenoir, president of the committee. The Algerian press close to power, in particular L’Expressionwas particularly aggressive with regard to Boualem Sansal in the days preceding the decision.
Aged 80 years old and suffering from prostate cancer, Boualem Sansal chose not to appeal to cassation after the confirmation of his sentence on Tuesday. This choice made it possible, on paper, to make possible a presidential grace. An option always possible for medical reasons, but of which nothing indicates that it will be used by the authorities.
A point of tension between Paris and Algiers
The condemnation of Boualem Sansal is based on remarks made in October 2024 in the far -right media Borders, where he affirmed that Algeria had inherited, under French colonization, of territories historically belonging to Morocco. Explosive declarations in a regional context under tension, which have been interpreted as a questioning of the territorial integrity of Algeria.
Our file on Algeria
Its case has become a major tension point between Algiers and Paris, in an climate already degraded since France’s recognition of a Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara in July 2024. Since then, the two capitals have engaged in a diplomatic showdown marked by expulsion of diplomats and the suspension of bilateral cooperation.
