Overview

• Boualem Sansal, an 80-year-old writer and critic of the Algerian regime, was sentenced to five years in prison and fined 500,000 dinars for charges including undermining state security and territorial integrity.
• The trial lasted only 20 minutes, with no prior announcement, and has been criticized for lacking adequate defense representation and judicial fairness.
• Sansal’s arrest and sentencing have intensified diplomatic tensions between France and Algeria, already strained by France’s support for Morocco’s Western Sahara autonomy plan.
• French President Emmanuel Macron and Sansal’s lawyer have urged Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to issue a humanitarian pardon, citing Sansal’s age and cancer diagnosis.
• Speculation about a potential presidential pardon is emerging, with observers suggesting it could coincide with the end of Ramadan or Algeria’s Independence Day celebrations.