France Expresses Concern Over Writer’s Disappearance in Algeria

French President Emmanuel Macron has added his voice to requests for details concerning the Franco-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal, who vanished following his flight to Algiers last Saturday. Sansal, a vocal opponent of the Algerian government, is alleged by certain French news outlets to have been apprehended by Algerian law enforcement upon disembarking from his aircraft. “The president is very concerned and is following the situation closely,” an Elysée palace spokesperson stated. “He holds very dear the freedom of this great writer and intellectual.” Numerous other notable French political figures, primarily from the centrist and right-wing spectrum, have articulated their apprehension regarding Sansal, who frequently featured in French media, where he critiqued both the Algerian administration and the expansion of Islamism. As of Friday, Algeria had not issued any formal response to the anxieties expressed by France. Edouard Philippe, a former prime minister, declared he was “profoundly worried… [Sansal] embodies all that we cherish. He stands for reason, freedom and humanism against the forces of censorship, corruption and Islamism”. Marine Le Pen, a leader of the far-right, described him as a “fighter for liberty and a courageous opponent of Islamism.” Sansal’s disappearance, at the age of 75, was initially brought to attention by acquaintances in Paris, who discovered his mobile phone was inactive and were informed he had not reached his residence in Boumerdès. The writer Kamel Daoud is counted among his advocates, another Franco-Algerian who critiques the Algiers government and who, earlier this month, received France’s most prestigious literary prize for a novel depicting the violent Algerian civil war of the 1990s. Just this week, it was disclosed that Daoud faces a lawsuit in Algeria, accused of plagiarizing his narrative from a civil war survivor and of violating a 2005 “reconciliation law” that limits public discourse on the conflict. Saada Arbane stated that she had conducted multiple psychiatric sessions with Aicha Dahdouh, who is Daoud’s future wife. The BBC has sought a statement from Daoud. In a piece published on Friday in Paris, his current place of residence, Daoud conveyed apprehension for his “friend” Sansal, asserting his belief that Sansal had been apprehended. “Being a writer in Algeria is an onerous task. The regime does not at all appreciate the profession and the Islamists are in expansion mode…. Indeed the armed wing [of the Islamists] is the regime,” he wrote. The challenges encountered by both writers have fueled apprehensions of a retaliatory campaign orchestrated by the Algerian government in reaction to what appears to be a shift in President Macron’s foreign policy, favoring closer ties with Morocco and distancing from Algeria. Antoine Gallimard, from Daoud’s publishing house Gallimard, asserted that the legal actions against the author served as evidence of a “campaign of violent defamation orchestrated by certain media close to the (Algerian) regime.” The previous month, Macron undertook a state visit to Morocco, where he announced France’s endorsement of Moroccan assertions of sovereignty over the contested region of Western Sahara. Algeria has historically supported the Polisario independence movement. Macron’s action provoked indignation among numerous Algerians, who perceive the bestowal of France’s Prix Goncourt upon Daoud as a political statement rather than a literary recognition. Officials at the Elysée informed journalists that Macron felt exasperated by his persistent efforts to foster better relations with Algeria, which consistently failed due to Algerian obstruction. Certain French news outlets theorized that Sansal’s arrest might be linked to a recent interview where he seemingly challenged Algeria’s historical sovereignty over portions of its territory bordering Morocco. He further stated that Polisario was “invented” by Algeria to “destabilise Morocco”. Throughout the years, both Daoud and Sansal have incurred the displeasure of official spheres in Algeria, where they are frequently charged with betraying their country to the former colonial authority. Sansal, who received scientific training, held a high-ranking role within the Algerian industry ministry until his dismissal following the release of his initial novels. He faced intense criticism for his presence at a book fair in Jerusalem in 2012. Daoud, aged 54, commenced his professional life as a journalist, reporting on the civil war’s atrocities, which claimed the lives of as many as 200,000 individuals. He later became a newspaper columnist and garnered global recognition in 2015 for his debut novel, The Meursault Investigation, a reinterpretation of Albert Camus’s The Stranger. Further reporting contributed by Ahmed Rouaba. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the material found on external websites. Information regarding our policy on external linking is available.