Overview
- Boualem Sansal, 81, was pardoned on November 12 by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune after about a year in detention, following German mediation led by President Frank‑Walter Steinmeier.
- His planned arrival in Paris on November 14–15 was postponed, and he remains in Germany for further examinations after treatment at a Berlin military hospital.
- French Foreign Minister Jean‑Noël Barrot said Sansal is currently at the French embassy in Berlin and could travel to France in the coming days depending on test results.
- The novelist, treated for prostate cancer, described harsh isolation in El Harrach prison and limited access to reading and contact with other inmates.
- The pardon has reopened diplomatic channels between Paris, Berlin and Algiers, sparked debate within Algeria over justice and sovereignty, and left other cases—such as journalist Christophe Gleizes, whose appeal is set for December 3—unresolved.