Macron: Algeria is dishonoring itself
The French president criticized Algeria for preventing “a severely ill man from receiving treatment.”
On January 6, Emmanuel Macron stated that Algeria “dishonors itself” by keeping Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal in detention after his arrest in mid-November in Algiers.
Speaking to ambassadors gathered at the Élysée, Macron said: “Algeria, this country we love and with which we share so many children and so much history, dishonors itself by preventing a severely ill man from receiving treatment. This behavior is unworthy of what Algeria represents.” He added, “We, as friends of the Algerian people and its history, call on its government to release Boualem Sansal.”
Boualem Sansal, aged 75, a critic of the Algerian regime, was arrested for “endangering state security” and has been in a medical unit since mid-December. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune commented on the case for the first time on December 29, calling the writer an “imposter” allegedly sent by France.
Sansal, author of 2084: The End of the World and naturalized as a French citizen in 2024, is being prosecuted under Article 87 bis of the Algerian Penal Code, which classifies “any act targeting state security, territorial integrity, or institutional stability” as a terrorist or subversive act.
According to Le Monde, Algerian authorities were upset by remarks Boualem Sansal made to the French media outlet Frontières, known for its far-right leanings. His statements echoed Morocco’s position that Algerian territory was altered in its favor during French colonization. His arrest comes amidst growing tensions between Paris and Algiers, which intensified last July when Macron recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. This region, considered a “non-autonomous territory” by the UN, has been the subject of a decades-long conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which is supported by Algeria.
