Algeria – Boualem Sansal affair: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacts to Emmanuel Macron’s statements
The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted this Tuesday, January 7, through a press release, to the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron on Algeria and the affair involving the writer Boualem Sansal.
According to the press release, “These remarks undermine the honor of their author”. The ministry expressed its astonishment at the French President’s statements, describing them as “casual and light”and added: “The Algerian Government has learned, with great amazement, of the French President’s remarks concerning Algeria, which above all dishonor the person who made them. »
In addition, Algerian diplomacy denounced a “unacceptable interference in an internal matter”. “These statements must be firmly rejected and condemned for what they represent: shameless and unacceptable interference in Algerian internal affairs”underlines the press release.
The ministry also clarified that what the French President presents as a question of freedom of expression is, according to Algeria, an erroneous and unfounded interpretation. The case in question is described as involving “of calling into question the territorial integrity of the country, an offense punishable by Algerian legislation”.
The day before, Emmanuel Macron had commented on the detention of the Algerian-French writer Boualem Sansal, arrested in November 2024 in Algiers. He declared that Algeria “dishonors” by keeping the writer in detention, thus preventing a seriously ill man from receiving care. Speaking during the annual meeting with French ambassadors at the Élysée, the French President called on the Algerian authorities to release Boualem Sansal.
