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BERLIN: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday urged his Algerian counterpart to pardon the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who was given a five-year jail term in March for harming national unity.
Steinmeier’s office said he had asked Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to pardon Sansal as “a humanitarian gesture.”
“Given Sansal’s advanced age and fragile health condition” Steinmeier also “offered Sansal’s relocation to Germany and subsequent medical care in our country.”
“It would reflect my long-standing personal relationship with President Tebboune and the good relations between our countries.”
The Algerian presidency confirmed that Steinmeier has asked Tebboune to pardon the writer as a “humanitarian gesture” — and the request was also reported on Algerian television.
According to observers in Algeria, the fact that both the president’s office and public television are echoing Steinmeier’s request can be seen as a positive sign for Sansal.
Paris has also called on Algeria to show leniency to Sansal and the writer’s conviction has further strained tense France-Algeria relations.
The writer’s family has highlighted his treatment for prostate cancer.
A prize-winning figure in North African modern francophone literature, Sansal is known for his criticism of Algerian authorities as well as of Islamists.
The case arose after Sansal told the far-right outlet Frontieres that France had unjustly transferred Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial period from 1830 to 1962 — a claim Algeria views as a challenge to its sovereignty and that aligns with longstanding Moroccan territorial assertions.