Writer Boualem Sansal imprisoned in Algeria: From Prague, his daughters plead for presidential pardon
Boualem Sansal, an Algerian author born in 1945, was sentenced in March to five years in prison and a fine of 500,000 dinars for “undermining national unity”. Now his daughters, who have a Czech mother and live in Prague, have officially requested a presidential pardon from the Algerian head of state.
After retiring from a job in government, Boualem Sansal has made a carrier as a French-language author, penning works that criticise both Islamism and the Algerian government. His books are banned in the country. In November 2024, he was arrested on charges of undermining Algeria’s territorial borders and economy. Aged eighty and suffering from cancer, the author and his family are appealing the initial verdict. His two daughters gave an exclusive interview to Radio Prague International:
"My name is Sabeha. I am the youngest daughter of Boualem Sansal."
"I am Nawal, his eldest daughter. I don’t speak French anymore because I haven’t spoken it in a long time. It’s very difficult for me."
When was the last time you were in contact with your father?
Nawal: "It’s been about two years. No, maybe less. A year and a half."
Do both of you, his daughters, also have Algerian citizenship?
Sabeha: "Yes, I had it at the time when I lived in Algeria for a year and a half, because I had lost my Czech visa and had to go to the embassy to obtain Algerian citizenship. But I’m not sure if Algerians still consider me Algerian."
Nawal: "Ah yes, I think we still have Algerian citizenship. You can’t lose it when your father is Algerian. You get the Algerian nationality automatically. I lived in Algeria with my mother until I was five years old."
And your father, Boualem Sansal - do you know when he first came to Prague?
Nawal: "In the 1960s. Toward the end of the 1960s. And I was born in 1971."
How did you react when you received confirmation that your father had been arrested by the Algerian authorities?
Sabeha: "Since I already knew he had taken French nationality, I couldn’t understand why, at that moment, he went back to Algeria again..."
Nawal: "I don’t know, at the same time, we weren’t surprised because the political situation is difficult. We didn’t understand why he returned to Algeria. I don’t know. Because he should have known that relations between the two countries—France and Algeria—are not good, not easy. So I still don’t understand why he went back."
Request for Presidential Pardon via Czech Diplomacy
When did you take action? When did you officially request the presidential pardon?
Sabeha: "The Czech ambassador in Algiers, Jan Czerný, contacted me and suggested writing a letter addressed directly to President Tebboune. Just my sister and I, as his daughters, without involving France. That’s how it happened."
When did you send the first letter?
Sabeha: "If I remember correctly, he was detained on November 16th, and I think we sent the letter at the end of November or early December."
Was there any response to the letter?
Sabeha: "No, no response. Yet the letter—since we can’t just send a letter to the president using the Czech postal system—was sent via our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And we received no reply."
Have you written other letters since the official verdict last week?
Sabeha: "No. We wrote a personal letter to our father, also via our ambassador. That makes two letters in total, but always transmitted by our Czech ambassador in Algiers."
What do you know about his health, which is currently of great concern to many?
Sabeha: "I was in contact with [the publisher] Antoine Gallimard, who had some reassuring information. But I don’t know. I don’t know where that information came from. Officially, no one knows anything."
Are you worried?
Nawal: "Yes, it’s a serious illness. So I’m worried."
Do you feel that the international campaign for your father's release is working?
Sabeha: "Yes, I think so. Conferences, daily articles, meetings for Boualem’s release – there’s a lot going on. Other writers have signed a petition for his release. Yes, I think many efforts are underway."
If you had a message to send to the Algerian authorities, what would it be?
Sabeha: "First of all, I was expecting a response. What I really want is for them to release him. He’s defending himself entirely alone because he has no lawyer. He’s completely isolated."
It should be noted that his French lawyer has not been granted a visa to travel to Algeria.
Sabeha: "Yes. I don’t think he has any chance of getting the visa, and I think our father remains without support. Without a lawyer, he is defending himself alone. So, I think now Ramadan has ended, at the end of March, I read in the press that Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune might issue a presidential pardon. We’re waiting for that moment."
Nawal: "We hope for a presidential pardon, because he is old and he is sick."
