The Court of Appeal in Algiers upheld a five-year prison sentence against Algerian-French writer Boualem Sansal on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, after he was convicted of “undermining national unity.” The ruling followed a trial that received widespread criticism, with observers labeling it a “judicial farce.”
The conviction stemmed from a statement Sansal made during an interview with a French weekly on October 2, 2024, in which he remarked, “When France colonized Algeria, the western part of Algeria was part of Morocco.” Many historians regard this assertion as self-evident from a historical perspective, but it ignited significant controversy in Algeria and was categorized as a threat to national unity.
After reading the verdict in Arabic, the president of the court addressed Sansal in French, confirming the verdict and reminding him that he has eight days to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Sansal’s new lawyer, Pierre Cornut-Gentille, who arrived in Algeria a few days ago, declined to comment on the next steps, stating only that he would visit his client to discuss the possibility of an appeal.
At 80 years old and reportedly suffering from cancer, according to his lawyer, Sansal is in stable health. The lawyer mentioned that he met with him on Monday.
Meanwhile, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing regret over the confirmation of the sentence and voiced Paris’s concern over the ongoing detention of its citizen Boualem Sansal for what it described as “the freedom to express a historical opinion.”
