The 75-year-old author, who obtained French nationality this year, was arrested on Saturday at Algiers airport, coming from France, several French media reported.
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French President Emmanuel Macron is “very concerned about the disappearance” of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal who, according to several media, was arrested in Algeria, the entourage of the Head of State reported Thursday, November 27. “State services are mobilized to clarify his situation”it was clarified, adding that “the President of the Republic expresses his unwavering attachment to the freedom of a great writer and intellectual”.
The 75-year-old author, who obtained French nationality this year, was arrested on Saturday at Algiers airport, coming from France, several French media reported. The reasons for his arrest are not known. According to the weekly Marianneil “no longer gave any news to his loved ones since his arrival in Algiers”.
Several French political leaders, especially belonging to the right and center-right, have also expressed their concern and support for the writer, known for his freedom of thought, whether against the Algerian power or religious fundamentalism, since that he launched into literature in 1999. “All means of pressure on Algeria must be activated to obtain the release of our compatriot, the great writer Boualem Sansal”argued the leader of the LR deputies (Republicans, right) Laurent Wauquiez.
Boualem Sansal enjoyed success from the start with The Barbarian Oatha novel recounting the rise in power of fundamentalists who contributed to plunging his country into a civil war that left at least 200,000 dead between 1992 and 2002. His books, published in France, are sold freely in Algeria but the author is controversial there, particularly since a visit to Israel in 2014.
