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Algeria Pardons Writer Boualem Sansal, Approves Transfer to Germany for Care

The clemency follows a direct appeal by Germany’s president on humanitarian grounds.

Overview

  • The Algerian presidency said President Abdelmadjid Tebboune granted the pardon after a formal request from Frank‑Walter Steinmeier.
  • Authorities will transfer Sansal to Germany, where German officials will take charge so he can receive medical treatment.
  • Sansal, 76, had been definitively sentenced in July to five years in prison on national‑security charges tied to his public statements.
  • French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu welcomed the decision, as the case had strained already difficult relations between Paris and Algiers.
  • Supporters cited his prostate cancer and longstanding ties to Berlin as reasons for the humanitarian clemency.