Overview

• Algeria’s July 5 decrees barred all prisoners convicted of “harming national unity” from the 6,800 granted amnesty, explicitly excluding Sansal.
• An appeals court upheld Sansal’s five-year sentence on June 30 under Article 87 bis for alleged threats to national cohesion.
• French officials at the Élysée Palace and Foreign Ministry had anticipated Sansal’s pardon would defuse mounting tensions with Algiers.
• Paris is now pressing President Tebboune for an individual humanitarian pardon, citing Sansal’s age, health concerns and his status as a leading voice on free expression.
• Observers warn the standoff has become a “dialogue of the deaf” that risks further eroding cooperation between France and Algeria.