Overview
- The 81-year-old writer was pardoned by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and freed after nearly a year in detention for statements judged harmful to Algerian national unity.
- He is receiving care and undergoing tests at a military hospital in Berlin and is expected to remain there for several more days, delaying his planned immediate arrival in Paris.
- Contacts between Algiers, Paris, and Berlin—capped by an appeal from German President Frank‑Walter Steinmeier—paved the way for the release on humanitarian grounds.
- From Berlin, Sansal said he feels “rather well” and intends to travel to France soon, while recounting isolation and restricted reading and communication during his time in El Harrach prison.
- The pardon has triggered contentious commentary inside Algeria and has spurred French diplomacy to press for movement in other cases, including journalist Christophe Gleizes, whose appeal is scheduled for December 3.