Overview

• Kamel Daoud is now subject to two international arrest warrants issued by Algerian authorities, the latest notified in early May 2025.
• The warrants stem from allegations that his Goncourt-winning novel 'Houris' violates Algeria’s 2005 Charter for National Reconciliation and infringes on personal privacy.
• The novel, banned in Algeria, explores the 1990s civil war and continues to circulate clandestinely despite state suppression.
• Daoud faces multiple lawsuits, including privacy and defamation claims, with procedural hearings in Paris on May 7 and a defamation trial set for June 13, 2025.
• Daoud’s legal team plans to challenge the politically charged arrest warrants, which they argue are aimed at silencing dissent and controlling historical narratives.