Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal spoke publicly for the first time since his release from prison in Algeria, saying his words remain “carefully controlled” and acknowledging that he fears being arrested again if he returns to Algiers.
Sansal, 81, was freed on November 12 after spending a year behind bars in Algeria. He had been sentenced to five years for “undermining national unity” following comments in October 2024 to the French outlet Frontières, where he suggested Algeria inherited regions that were amputated from Morocco during French colonial rule.
“I am not speaking naturally… I control every word,” Sansal told France 2 on Sunday, noting that diplomatic tensions have shaped his tone.
He said he was censoring his words because he fears an Algerian retaliation against his family, adding that he was also to weight his words because another French journalist Christoph Gleiz was still behind Algerian bars for venturing to report on the death of an African football player in Algeria.
President Macron and French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot had met Sansal after his return from Germany.
Sansal said his release was the fruit of a trilateral diplomatic agreement between France, Germany and Algeria.
He was flown to Berlin aboard a German presidential aircraft as part of a diplomatic arrangement aimed at sparing Algeria further embarrassment after an arbitrary arrest that turned him into a pawn in worsening Franco-Algerian tensions, he said.
His arrest deepened a diplomatic crisis between Paris and Algiers, already strained after France’s support for Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara.
“Everything started from there,” Sansal said, linking his detention to the geopolitical dispute.
