Algerian authorities have announced that French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal has been granted a pardon and will be released from prison, the presidential office confirmed on Wednesday.
The decision will allow Sansal to be transferred to Germany for medical treatment.
The move follows appeals from German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who had called on Algeria to free Sansal.
“The president of the republic decided to respond positively to the request of the esteemed president of the friendly Federal Republic of Germany,” the Algerian statement read on Wednesday.
Previously, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had turned down French requests for Sansal’s pardon, citing the author’s age and health. Sansal, 81, is battling prostate cancer.
A prominent critic of the Algerian regime, Sansal was arrested at Algiers airport in November 2024 and sentenced in March to five years in prison on charges of undermining national unity.
His detention followed remarks in which he criticized France for allegedly ceding Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial era.
Tensions between Paris and Algiers have escalated since French President Emmanuel Macron recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in 2024.
Many observers have suggested that Sansal’s imprisonment was politically motivated amid the strained bilateral relations. Macron had previously stated that Algeria was “dishonouring” itself by incarcerating the writer.
By allowing Sansal’s transfer to Germany, Algeria appears to be easing the diplomatic friction with France while maintaining political dignity.
President Tebboune himself received treatment in Germany in 2020 after a Covid-19 infection.
On Monday, Steinmeier described the pardon as “an expression of humanitarian sentiment and political foresight,” highlighting his “years-long personal relationship to president Tebboune and the good relations between our countries.”
In recent months, several international literary figures, including Salman Rushdie, Annie Ernaux, and Wole Soyinka, had called for the release of the Algeria-born author.
