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The 75-year-old writer, who recently obtained French nationality, was arrested on November 16, 2024 at Algiers airport, coming from France, several French media reported.
INTERNATIONAL – Serious concerns. The Franco-Algerian novelist and essayist Boualem Sansal has not given any news to his loved ones since his arrival in Algeria Saturday November 16, arousing many fears in France, all the way to the Élysée. According to information relayed by Mariannethe 75-year-old author was reportedly arrested upon his arrival at Algiers airport by local authorities. He had just landed from Paris.
The reasons for his arrest have not been revealed, although the writer, naturalized French in 2024, expresses in his works strong criticism of the regime in place in his country of origin. Boualem Sansal made himself known in particular with the novel “The Oath of the Barbarians”which recounts the rise in power of fundamentalists who helped plunge his country into a civil war that left at least 200,000 dead between 1992 and 2002.
His books, published in France, are sold freely in Algeria but the author is controversial there, particularly since a visit to Israel in 2014.
• A trip that is “reckless”, says Kamel Daoud
The Franco-Algerian writer Kamel Daoud, Goncourt Prize 2024 For “Houris”reacted to the disappearance of Boualem Sansal in a column published Thursday evening in Le Figaro. “I very much hope that my friend Boualem will return to us very soon”he wrote, while confiding his incomprehension in the face of“recklessness” which, according to him, Boualem Sansal would have demonstrated by going to Algeria.
Kamel Daoud himself is at the heart of a controversy in Algeria, accused by a victim of the civil war of having exploited his story in his work. “Kamel Daoud is the subject of violent defamatory campaigns orchestrated by certain media close to a regime whose nature no one is unaware of”denounced the director of his publishing house, Gallimard, on Monday.
• Political reactions are increasing on the right
Several French political leaders, especially belonging to the right and center-right, have expressed their concern and support for the writer, known for his freedom of thought, whether against the Algerian power or religious fundamentalism, since he launched into literature in 1999.
“He embodies everything we cherish: the call to reason, freedom and humanism against censorship, corruption and Islamism”also launched former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on French and European authorities to obtain precise information and ensure that he can move freely and return to France whenever he wishes..
“All means of pressure on Algeria must be activated to obtain the release of our compatriot, the great writer Boualem Sansal”added the leader of the LR deputies (Republicans, right) Laurent Wauquiez. The leader of the deputies of the National Rally (RN) Marine Le Pen, for her part, asked the French government to“act to obtain his immediate release”greeting in Boualem Sansal a “ freedom fighter and courageous opponent of Islamism ».
• Emmanuel Macron “very concerned” by the situation
French President Emmanuel Macron is “ very concerned about the disappearance” of Boualem Sansal, indicated the entourage of the head of state. “State services are mobilized to clarify his situation”it was clarified, adding that “ the President of the Republic expresses his unwavering attachment to the freedom of a great writer and intellectual”.
These events take place in a tense diplomatic context between France and Algeria, after Paris’ support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for the disputed territory of Western Sahara at the end of July. Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is de facto controlled mainly by Morocco. But it is claimed by the Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front, who are demanding a self-determination referendum and are supported by Algiers.
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