Algiers rejected Tuesday as “unacceptable interference in an internal Algerian matter” statements by French President Emmanuel Macron on Algeria, in which he affirmed that this country “dishonors oneself” by keeping the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal in prison.
“Remarks from the French president which dishonor, above all, the one who believed he had to make them in such a casual and light manner. These remarks can only be reproached, rejected and condemned for what they are, a shameless and unacceptable interference in an internal Algerian matter.indicated the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
“What the French president unduly and falsely presents as a matter of freedom of expression is not one under the law of a sovereign and independent state. It is essentially a questioning of the territorial integrity of the country, an offense punishable by Algerian law.added the Algerian ministry in its press release.
On Monday, Emmanuel Macron called on Algiers for the release of Mr. Sansal.
“The Algeria that we love so much and with which we share so many children and so many stories is entering into a story that dishonors it, preventing a seriously ill man from getting treatment. It’s not up to what it is.”he said in front of the French ambassadors gathered at the Elysée.
“I urge his government to release Boualem Sansal”he added. This “freedom fighter” East “detained in a totally arbitrary manner by Algerian officials”according to Mr. Macron.
Critic of Algerian power, Boualem Sansal, 75, has been incarcerated since mid-November for endangering state security, after his arrest upon his arrival at Algiers airport, and is in a care unit since mid-December.
According to the French daily Le Monde, the Algerian government would have taken badly Mr. Sansal’s statements to the French media Frontières, reputed to be far-right, taking up Morocco’s position according to which the country’s territory would have been truncated under French colonization for the benefit of Algeria.
The author of “2084: The End of the World”naturalized French in 2024, is prosecuted under article 87 bis of the penal code, which punishes “as a terrorist or subversive act, any act targeting state security, territorial integrity, stability and the normal functioning of institutions”.