IPA Joins in Condemnation of Boualem Sansal's Upheld Sentence

The International Publishers Association’s (IPA) Kristenn Einarsson calls Boualem Sansal’s incarceration ‘an affront to a literary ambassador of Algeria.’

Boualem Sansal in 2011 at Frankfurter Buchmesse for his news conference as winner of that year’s Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. Image: FBM, Fernando Baptista

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

Einarsson: ‘Secure His Release’

As reported by Aurelien Breeden in Paris for The New York Times, “An appeals court in Algeria on Tuesday [July 1] upheld a five-year sentence for an Algerian French writer who has been accused of undermining Algeria’s national unity and security. The case has strained relations with France, which was once Algeria’s colonial ruler.”

The Franco-Algerian author Boualem Sansal has gained rapid international support and concern, and Publishing Perspectives reported in March on the news of Sansal being sentenced to five years.

According to the Associated Press’ article today (July 1), the ruling “denies a request made by prosecutors at an appeal hearing last week. They asked a judge to give Sansal the maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The 2084: The End of the World author was charged in March under Algeria’s anti-terrorism laws and convicted of ‘undermining national unity,’ receiving his initial five-year sentence then.”

In reacting to the news that Boualem Sansal’s five-year prison sentence will stand, Kristenn Einarsson, chair of the International Publishers Association‘s (IPA) Freedom to Publish committee says, “The IPA is disappointed to learn that Boualem Sansal’s five-year prison sentence has been upheld by the court of appeal.

“This is an affront to a literary ambassador of Algeria and to the freedom of expression.

“We continue to urge the Algerian authorities to secure his release.”

More on the freedom to write, read, and publish is here.

Publishing Perspectives is the International Publishers Association’s world media partner.

About the Author

Porter Anderson

Porter Anderson has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (Fellow, National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.