Overview
- The Algerian presidency said President Abdelmadjid Tebboune granted a pardon at the request of German President Frank‑Walter Steinmeier and confirmed that Germany will handle the transfer and treatment.
- A German aircraft was reported to be preparing to fly Sansal to Germany for hospital care, with the operation expected soon.
- Sansal, 81, had been serving a five‑year sentence for “atteinte à l’unité nationale” over 2024 comments and had been treated for prostate cancer.
- France welcomed the move as a humanitarian decision, with President Emmanuel Macron expressing thanks, and Sansal’s lawyers and family voicing relief.
- The case intensified a wider rift between Paris and Algiers, and unresolved issues remain, including the detention of French journalist Christophe Gleizes ahead of a December 3 appeal.