Algeria Pardons Writer Boualem Sansal; Germany to Arrange Medical Transfer

Algeria announced on Wednesday that it has granted a presidential pardon to 81-year-old novelist Boualem Sansal after a request from Germany, which will organize his transfer for medical treatment following roughly a year in detention.

Decision and medical transfer

The Algerian presidency said the move followed an appeal by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who on Monday urged Algerian authorities to free Sansal on humanitarian grounds. The statement said: "the president of the republic decided to respond positively." Sansal's family has said he is being treated for prostate cancer and that Germany will take charge of his relocation and subsequent medical care.

Charges and pardon

Sansal was sentenced in March to five years in prison after being convicted of undermining Algeria's territorial integrity. The charge stemmed from remarks he made to a French outlet asserting that France had unjustly transferred Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial period (1830–1962) — a view Algeria says echoes Moroccan territorial claims and threatens its sovereignty. He was arrested at Algiers airport in November 2024, and because he did not appeal the March ruling, he became eligible for a presidential pardon.

International reaction

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier publicly urged a humanitarian gesture "given Sansal's advanced age and fragile health condition," and pledged Germany's support for his medical transfer. French President Emmanuel Macron also appealed to Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to show "mercy and humanity." Sansal's daughter, Sabeha, told AFP by telephone from the Czech Republic that she felt relieved and had feared for her father's health while detained:

"I was a little pessimistic because he is sick, he is old, and he could have died there. I hope we will see each other soon."

Diplomatic context

Sansal's prosecution has become a cause célèbre in France and is intertwined with a broader diplomatic rift between Paris and Algiers. The dispute has included reciprocal expulsions of diplomats, ambassador recalls and visa restrictions, and was further inflamed after President Macron expressed support for Moroccan claims over Western Sahara in July 2024. The case of French sportswriter Christophe Gleizes — sentenced to seven years in Algeria on charges related to interviewing a member of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), designated a terrorist organisation by Algeria in 2021 — is another flashpoint in the strained relations.

About Boualem Sansal

An economist by training, Sansal served as a senior civil servant in Algeria before publishing his first novel in 1999. His debut and subsequent works often critique both Algerian authorities and Islamist movements. His novel "The Barbarians' Oath" addressed the rise of fundamentalist Islam during Algeria's civil war, and his 2008 novel "The German Mujahid" was banned in Algeria for drawing comparisons between Islamism and Nazism. He was dismissed from a government post in 2003 but continued a prolific literary career and has received multiple international prizes. Sansal acquired French nationality in 2024.

Wider relevance

The transfer to Germany reflects Berlin's recent role in providing medical care and refuge to high-profile detainees and dissidents from abroad. For example, the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was treated at Berlin's Charité hospital after being poisoned in 2020, and Germany accepted several prominent Russian dissidents last year as part of a prisoner exchange with Moscow.

Note: All facts are presented as reported by official statements and family sources. Dates have been clarified to reflect the sequence of events leading to the pardon and planned transfer.