Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has agreed to a request from his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to grant clemency to Algerian-French writer Boualem Sansal, who has been detained in Algeria for a year, and to allow his transfer to Germany for treatment, as announced by the Algerian presidency on Wednesday.
The presidency’s statement noted that Tebboune “received a request from Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier pertaining to the granting of special clemency for writer Boualem Sansal, and the President of the Republic responded positively to this request due to its special humanitarian nature.”
Earlier, cultural and human rights organizations, both Algerian and international, had demanded Sansal’s release following a deterioration in his health condition while in prison. However, Algerian authorities initially rejected those calls until Germany intervened officially, making a direct request to the Algerian presidency, which ended the silence and led to the decision for clemency and his transfer for treatment in Germany.
