France’s Far-Right Exploits Boualem Sansal Case to Reignite Colonial Nostalgia
The Algerian Press Service (APS) responded Monday to the French media campaign surrounding the Boualem Sansal case, firmly stating that Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s recent pardon decree issued on the occasion of Algeria’s Independence Day, July 5th did not include Boualem Sansal.
“Contrary to the illusions spread by France’s bitter far-right, which still struggles to accept Algeria’s independence, the presidential pardon did not apply to Boualem Sansal,” APS clarified. “Sansal remains trapped in the same delusions that preceded his trial and has now become the perfect excuse to launch a fresh wave of hatred and misinformation against Algeria as expected.”
The agency added that this campaign is being orchestrated by French media outlets affiliated with the Bolloré empire, known for their hostility towards Algeria. “These media arms, eager to attack Algeria, its people, and its sovereignty, have for months relied on paid columnists, frenzied commentators, and pseudo-intellectuals turned provocateurs to recycle the same rhetoric: that Sansal’s case represents an ‘oppressive regime’ that must be pressured through blatant diplomatic blackmail.”
APS continued: “France the self-proclaimed global advocate for human rights—currently has more than 2,297 of its citizens imprisoned around the world, yet not a word is said about this ‘national tragedy.’ But when it comes to Algeria, the narrative abruptly changes: the country must be forced to ‘submit,’ simply for daring to prosecute—on its own soil and in accordance with its laws a citizen born in Algeria, educated in its institutions, and retired as a senior state official.”
“Boualem Sansal is not a hostage. He was prosecuted in a domestic case directly related to national unity—an untouchable red line for any sovereign nation,” the agency emphasized. “France, in this context, emerges not as a neutral observer but as a former colonial power haunted by its past, with elements of its political class desperately searching for pretexts to interfere.”
“Behind Sansal’s case lies a well-devised plan: to rekindle hostility toward Algeria in order to divert attention from France’s own worsening crises. They invoke the image of an ‘ungovernable Algeria,’ fantasize about ‘French Algeria,’ and revive the spirit of the Secret Army Organization (OAS) through toxic articles, talk shows, and political discourse.”
As APS further noted, “The latest provocateur, Pascal Bruckner, shamelessly called for the kidnapping of Algerian diplomats on Figaro TV and dared to describe an entire people as ‘insane.’”
“This hate-filled rhetoric brings back the foul stench of the 1970s,” the article continued, “when Algerians in Marseille were subjected to attacks and bombings, often under the silent gaze of OAS sympathizers and their political heirs.”
“In truth,” the agency explained, “these far-right media voices and their Bolloré-backed networks have no genuine interest in Sansal. He is merely a convenient excuse. Their real objective is to launch a new memory war, satisfy nostalgic voters, and shift attention from their own unresolved failures: widening social fractures, police violence, and failed integration.”
“Yesterday their enemy was the ‘fellaga,’ today it is so-called ‘dictatorship.’ The scapegoat remains the same: Algeria.”
In closing, APS stated: “Let them bark. Algeria stands tall steadfast in its principles and fiercely protective of its sovereignty. The Boualem Sansal case is a strictly internal Algerian affair. No command from Paris will alter that.”
“Let them spit their venom on their TV panels as much as they like. Not even the filthiest drool from Bolloré’s mouthpieces can stain Algeria’s dignity. History has spoken: the colonial era is over, and Algeria will never kneel to a past that only they are desperate to revive to feed their hatred.”
APS
