French-Algerian author Boualem Sansal will not appeal his five-year prison sentence to Algeria’s Supreme Court, sources close to the writer confirmed on Saturday, as Paris intensified calls for his pardon.
The 80-year-old dual national was sentenced in March for comments deemed to undermine Algeria’s territorial integrity, made during an interview with a French media outlet.
“According to our information, he will not appeal to the Supreme Court,” Noelle Lenoir, president of Sansal’s support committee, told France Inter. “Given the state of the justice system in Algeria, he has no chance of having his offence reclassified on appeal. This means the sentence is final.”
Sources close to Sansal told AFP that the writer had “given up his right to appeal.” His French lawyer, Pierre Cornut-Gentille, declined to comment.
Earlier this week, French Prime Minister François Bayrou expressed hope that Algeria would grant Sansal a pardon, noting the author’s health issues, including prostate cancer.
However, Sansal was not among the thousands pardoned by Algeria’s president on Friday, ahead of the country’s Independence Day.
Bayrou returned to the topic on Saturday, calling Sansal’s imprisonment “intolerable.” He said, “Boualem Sansal has not been convicted for what he might have done but for opinions expressed.”
Lenoir remains hopeful about Sansal’s release, stating, “Algeria can’t take responsibility for his death in prison.”
A celebrated figure in North African francophone literature, Sansal is known for his outspoken criticism of Algerian authorities and Islamist groups.
The case against him arose after an interview with the far-right outlet Frontières, where he claimed that France unjustly transferred Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial period (1830–1962). Algeria views this assertion as a threat to its sovereignty and aligns it with Morocco’s long-standing territorial claims.
Sansal was detained upon arrival at Algiers airport in November 2024.
In March, a court in Dar El Beida sentenced him to five years in prison and fined him 500,000 Algerian dinars (around $3,730).
At a June court appearance without legal counsel, Sansal argued the case “makes no sense,” citing Algeria’s constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression and conscience.
His conviction has further strained already tense France-Algeria relations, complicated by issues including migration and France’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara—a disputed territory claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front separatists.
