General
Algerian French Writer Is Sentenced to 5-Year Prison Term in Algeria
The prosecution of Boualem Sansal, who is around 80, prompted outrage from the global literary community and pleas from France for his release.
An Algerian French writer whose arrest in Algeria on accusations of undermining national unity and security inflamed tensions with France was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday.
The writer, Boualem Sansal, who was born in Algeria and became a French citizen last year, was arrested in November because of statements he made to French news media siding with Morocco in a territorial dispute with Algeria.
His detention raised an outcry from other authors worldwide, and his sentencing came after months of pleas for his freedom from the French president, Emmanuel Macron. France was once Algeria’s colonial ruler.
Mr. Sansal was tried and sentenced without being allowed access to legal counsel, according to his lawyer in France, Francois Zimeray.
“Cruel detention, 20 minutes of hearing, a forbidden defense and ultimately five years in prison for an innocent writer,” Mr. Zimeray said in a statement. The sentence, he said, “betrays the very meaning of the word justice.”
Mr. Sansal, who was diagnosed with cancer and is believed to be about 80, is being held at Kolea prison, outside the capital, Algiers, according to Mr. Zimeray.
