Boualem Sansal. Image: Creative Commons, 2019,, PEN InternationalBy Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Guggolz: Other Prisoners ‘Must Not Be Forgotten’
See also:
IPA Joins in Condemnation of Boualem Sansal’s Upheld Sentence in Algeria
International Calls for Boualem Sansal: Now Sentenced to Five Years
In Iceland: A Focus on Boualem Sansal at Reykjavik International Literary Festival
Germany’s Börsenverein Calls on Algeria To Release Boualem Sansal
It had been originally reported that Sansal had been sentenced in March to five years’ imprisonment. Despite the rapid attention and concern directed to the plight of the Franco-Algerian author, the sentence had remained in place until today.
The International Publishers Association‘s (IPA) Freedom to Publish committee’s outgoing chief Kristenn Einarsson, saying in July, “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.”
The sudden release today of Boualem Salem by the Algerian president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, is being characterized as a pardon by Reuters in a case that “strained already difficult relations between Algeria and France.”
In an extensive write for The New York Times from Ephrat Livni and Ségolène Le Stradic, it’s pointed out in a late-afternoon update that Sansal’s original detention by the Algerian government dates back a year. The Algerian president Tebboune, the Times notes, “announced the pardon nearly a year after Mr. Sansal was arrested, saying he had granted ‘friendly’ Germany the humanitarian request. He noted that Germany would pay to transfer and treat Mr. Sansal in that country.”
The Guardian‘s European culture editor, Philip Oltermann, notes today in his article, “By releasing Sansal to Germany, the Algerian government has found a way out of the diplomatic standoff with its former coloniser without losing political face. Tebboune himself was treated at a hospital in Germany after falling ill with COVID-19 in 2020.”
Sebastian Guggolz
And at Germany’s Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, Germany’s publishers and booksellers association, the newly installed chief, Sebastian Guggolz, says “It is almost unimaginable what hardships someone must endure who is unjustly imprisoned and convicted. That is why we have repeatedly drawn attention to [Sansal’s] plight and demanded his release since his arrest.
“We are very grateful to the thousands of supporters, especially German federal president Frank-Walter Steinmeier and French president Emmanuel Macron for his mediation.”
Quick Background on the Sansal Detention
The following account is provided today by the Börsenverein on news of Sansal’s release:
“On November 16, 2024, Boualem Sansal was arrested on his arrival at Algiers airport while on his way home. After several days in an undisclosed location, he was accused of endangering Algerian security and charged under Article 87 of the Algerian penal code. The trigger was an interview he gave to a French media outlet in which he questioned Algeria’s historical borders. Sansal also advocates a solution to the Western Sahara conflict, a position opposed to that of the Algerian government.
“During his pretrial detention, Boualem Sansal was diagnosed with cancer, for which he required medical treatment. At the same time, the writer was denied fundamental human rights, including free access to legal counsel.
“His conviction on March 27, to five years in prison and a fine, was upheld on appeal on July 1. Adding to the difficulties in securing a favorable ruling for Sansal was the fact that relations between France and Algeria, in which he holds dual citizenship, were severely strained by internal and external political conflicts.
“In Germany, the Börsenverein’s Merlin Verlag, Perlentaucher (a German literary magazine); the recipients of the Peace Prize; the Leipzig Initiative; Claus Leggewie; and the two German PEN Clubs were particularly active in advocating Sansal’s release. Thousands of citizens signed appeals for solidarity.”
“We are very happy that Boualem Sansal can now receive treatment here in Germany in safety and freedom,” Sebastian Guggolz now says “And we thank the Algerian President for making this possible. However, there are numerous other prisoners in Algeria who have been sentenced to long prison terms for similarly flimsy reasons. They must not be forgotten.”
More on the freedom to write, read, and publish is here, more of our coverage of the Boualem Sansal case is here, and more of the work of the Börsenverein is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the International Publishers Association’s world media partner.