Algeria has pardoned French-Algerian author Boualem Sansal following a request from Germany, allowing him to be transferred there for medical treatment after a year in detention. Sansal, 81, suffers from prostate cancer.
The pardon came after German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Algerian authorities to show humanitarian consideration. French president Emmanuel Macron also called for “mercy and humanity,” while Sansal’s daughter expressed relief—saying she feared for his life given his age and illness.
Sansal was sentenced in March to five years in prison for allegedly undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity, after remarks about France’s historical transfer of Moroccan land to Algeria. The case which drew criticism for restricting freedom of expression had heightened diplomatic tensions between Paris and Algiers.
A prize-winning novelist and former civil servant, Sansal has long criticized Algerian authorities and Islamists alike. He acquired French nationality in 2024 and is now expected to receive cancer treatment in Germany.
