Overview

• Boualem Sansal, an 80-year-old Franco-Algerian author, has been in detention in Algeria since November 2024 under anti-terror laws for his critical statements about Algerian-Moroccan borders.
• On May 21, 2025, he was awarded the €200,000 Prix mondial Cino Del Duca, one of the most significant literary prizes after the Nobel, for his deeply humanist and free voice.
• The jury praised Sansal's courage and unwavering commitment to freedom of expression, literature, and intellectual engagement despite censorship and repression.
• Sansal's case has become a focal point in the ongoing diplomatic crisis between Algeria and France, with relations strained over mutual expulsions and frozen cooperation.
• An appeal hearing for Sansal's five-year prison sentence is scheduled for June 24, 2025, as international calls for his release continue to grow.