Algerian President Receives German President’s Request to Pardon Writer Boualem Sansal

ALGIERS – Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received a request from the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to carry out a humanitarian gesture involving a pardon for the writer Boualem Sansal, who has been imprisoned for a year.

“Given Boualem Sansal’s advanced age and deteriorating health, the German President suggested allowing him to travel to Germany to receive medical treatment,” the Algerian Presidency said in statement on Monday.

Boualem Sansal, an Algerian and French citizen, was awarded the Peace Prize by the German Writers’ Association on July 1, 2025. He was sentenced in Algeria to prison and a fine.