France says it's "very concerned" about the disappearance of French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who has not been heard from since he was reportedly taken into police custody upon his arrival in Algeria on Saturday. Sansal is a well-known critic of Algeria’s government and a vocal opponent of Islamic fundamentalism.
Sources told RFI that plainclothes security officers took Sansal, 75, from his car in Dar El Beida, east of the capital, shortly after he travelled to Algiers international airport from France. They said he was being held in police custody.
Family members and local media say he has not answered his phone for six days.
He is reportedly awaiting a summons before the public prosecutor in either Algiers or his hometown of Boumerdès, 50 kilometres away.
While the specific charges remain unclear, the writer could face accusations of “undermining national unity” – a crime that carries a prison sentence under Algerian law.
Sansal obtained French nationality earlier this year, and French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “very concerned” about the writer’s disappearance.
“The services of the state are mobilised to clarify his situation,” Macron’s office said. The president “expresses his unfailing attachment to the freedom of a great writer and intellectual”.
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Openly critical
Sansal is known for his defence of free speech and his criticism of Algeria’s government. His debut novel, The Oath of the Barbarians, examined the rise of fundamentalists who helped drive the country into a brutal civil war between 1992 and 2002, claiming at least 200,000 lives.
His 2015 dystopian novel 2084: The End of the World, a critique on the alleged Islamisation of France, won the Grand Prix du Roman from the Académie Française.
While his books are available in Algeria, the author remains controversial there, particularly after a 2014 visit to Israel, which drew sharp criticism from Algerian authorities.
While the writer's arrest has not yet been officially announced, sources say the criminal proceedings brought against him are linked to recent statements made to the far-right French media outlet Frontières.
Sansal is quoted as saying: “When France colonised Algeria, the entire western part of Algeria was part of Morocco: Tlemcen, Oran and even as far as Mascara. This whole region was part of the kingdom.”
The comments, widely circulated in Morocco, will likely have angered Algiers.
Sansal’s arrest comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions between France and Algeria. Algeria recently recalled its ambassador from Paris after France recognised Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region.
“Boualem Sansal's views on the Algerian regime are well known, he’s highly critical,” political analyst Arnaud Benedetti told RFI.
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Wave of support
A number of mainly right-wing French politicians have expressed concern and support for Sansal.
"He embodies everything we cherish: the call for reason, freedom and humanism against censorship, corruption and Islamism,” said former prime minister Edouard Philippe.
Laurent Wauquiez, leader of the conservative Republicans party, said France should use all means to push for the release of the "great writer Boualem Sansal".
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally described him as a "freedom fighter and courageous opponent of Islamism".
Sansal faces potential charges of “undermining national unity” and “inciting division within the country.” These allegations are punishable by prison sentences under Algeria’s penal code.
Sansal is not the only writer facing scrutiny.
French-Algerian author Kamel Daoud, winner of the latest Prix Goncourt, is also under investigation in Algeria, accused of exploiting a civil war survivor’s story in his latest novel.
