Boualem Sansal rests in a Berlin hospital after being pardoned by Tebboune

1. End of Boualem Sansal's ordeal
2. Presidential intervention for release
3. Transfer and medical care
4. International reactions
5. Context of the imprisonment
6. International pressure and government weakness

End of Boualem Sansal's ordeal

Boualem Sansal's ordeal has come to an end after 360 days in prison in Algiers. The Franco-Algerian writer has finally been pardoned, released from prison and transferred to a hospital in Berlin where he will be treated for prostate cancer. 

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier's request to his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune for solidarity with the writer's situation has resulted in his release. Relations between Algeria and Germany, which are completely different from those with France, have been key to the release of the 81-year-old essayist. 

Presidential intervention for release

The news was announced by the Algerian presidency in an official statement indicating that they would accept Steinmeier's proposal, which ‘caught the attention of the Algerian president due to its nature and humanitarian motives’. 

The text states that: ‘In accordance with Article 91, paragraph 8, of the Constitution, and after consultation in accordance with the law, the President of the Republic has decided to respond favourably to the request of his friend, the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the German State will be responsible for the transfer and care of the person concerned’. 

Transfer and medical care

At the same time, the plane that would transport Sansal departed for Algiers to take him to Berlin following the approval of the pardon and to undergo the medical tests that the essayist requires due to his health problems related to prostate cancer. 

Following the announcement, both Emmanuel Macron, President of France, and Sébastien Lecornu, French Prime Minister, expressed their ‘relief’ at the release of Boualem Sansal. "Boualem Sansal is free and will soon return. My deepest thanks to President Steinmeier for our fruitful cooperation. I thank President Tebboune for this gesture of humanity," were Macron's words during his speech at the Toulouse base in the context of the establishment of the National Space Strategy (SNS). 

International reactions

The writer's daughters, especially Sabeha Sansal, expressed their gratitude to the German president. On more than one occasion, they expressed their ‘relief’ and fear, as they knew their father would be released, but they also expressed their fear that, due to prostate cancer and his advanced age, he could die in prison. ‘I am really happy that he is finally free, even though he is a year older and ill,’ said Sabeha. 

According to experts such as Mohamed Larbi, Algeria's gesture of humanity is understood as a selfish gesture that appears humanitarian but has exclusively personal motives for the Algerian president, who frequently visits German hospitals. This rapprochement with the Central European country increased as relations with Paris broke down, with the latter denying him access to its hospitals from that moment on. 

Context of the imprisonment

Sansal's imprisonment was an arbitrary act without any basis. The reasons? Freely expressing his thoughts on the history of the western region of Algeria, which should belong to Morocco. In fact, during the trial, at which the writer decided to represent himself, Sansal argued that the Algerian Constitution guarantees freedom of expression. Moments later, the essayist uttered one of his most famous phrases: ‘We are holding a trial on literature. Where are we going to end up?’ 

Therefore, the arrest of the Franco-Algerian writer was not a show of power or a threat to freedom of expression, but rather a sign of international weakness. Proof of this is that it was international pressure that secured the novelist's release. 

International pressure and government weakness

The ease with which pressure on the military junta secured the release of the Franco-Algerian writer is further evidence that Abdelmadjid Tebboune's leadership sought international and political gain from Sansal's release. 

Showing weakness in the face of French demands could have meant a very significant defeat at a time when Algeria's isolation is growing. The recognition by the United Nations Security Council of Morocco's Autonomy Plan for the Sahara was possibly a factor that influenced the writer's release. 

The history between Germany and Sansal goes back a long way, as on 16 October 2011 he received the Peace Prize from the German Booksellers' Association (Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels).