French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal was granted a presidential pardon, the Algerian presidential office said in an official statement.
Algeria’s president on Wednesday granted a humanitarian pardon to French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal following a German request for his release. The 81-year-old writer, whose year-long imprisonment sparked widespread criticism, arrived in Berlin late Wednesday.
Sansal was arrested in Algiers on November 16, 2024, and, following an appeal in July 2025, was sentenced to five years in prison for making statements considered harmful to national unity. He had publicly and explicitly declared that Algeria’s western regions had been Moroccan territories for centuries and were “unfairly incorporated” into Algeria by France in 1962. Sansal maintened his position before Algerian judge as a real fact.
Late December 2024 and before Algerian Parliament, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune addressed the situation of writer Boualem Sansal — only to literally insult him and call him names such as “thief,” “of unknown identity,” and “bastard.”
Sansal is expected in France after a short stay in Germany to join his family and friends.