Boualem SANSAL
Boualem Sansal, 75, is a dual national, award-winning French-Algerian writer held on national security charges. On 16 November 2024, Algerian authorities arrested Sansal upon arrival at Algiers airport. His whereabouts remained unknown for over a week, during which he was denied access to his family and legal counsel, contrary to international law. Sansal was interrogated in the absence of his lawyer, in violation of his right to a fair trial. He was subsequently charged with national security-related offences under Article 87 bis of the Algerian Penal Code, a provision criticised for its frequent misuse against government critics, including human rights defenders. According to his legal team, the charges are based on previous statements he made to the media that were interpreted as threatening Algeria’s national security.
On 9 December 2024, Sansal’s French lawyer, François Zimeray, was denied entry to Algeria to represent his client before the court. Two days later, an Algerian appeal court refused Sansal’s appeal for release. On 16 December 2024, Sansal was hospitalised at his request, for the second time since his detention, raising concerns about his health.
Sansal, born in Algeria on 15 October 1949, was granted French citizenship in 2024. Previously a government official, he began writing at the age of 50 and is the author of 2084: La fin du monde (2084: The End of the World, 2015) for which he received the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française and the prize-winning 2008 novel Le village de l'Allemand ou le journal des frères Schiller (translated into English as An Unfinished Business), among several other remarkable novels published by Gallimard. He received the Prix du Premier Roman and the Prix Tropiques for his debut novel Le serment des barbares (The Barbarians' Oath) in 1999, and the Arab Novel Prize for his novel Rue Darwin (2011) in 2012. Sansal was also awarded the German Book Trade Peace Prize in 2011, and honoured with the Grand Prix de la Francophonie from the Académie Française in 2013.