Kamel Daoud: Algeria launches two arrest warrants against the writer

Two international arrest warrants were launched against the Franco-Algerian writer Kamel Daoud by Algeria. The reasons for these mandates remain unknown to her lawyer who, according to her own statements, “can only be political and linked to his latest Houris book”.

Algeria issued two international arrest terms against Kamel Daoud, the Franco-Algerian author and winner of the 2024 Goncourt Prize. A first order of arrest was launched in March, followed by a second in early May.

According to Jacqueline Laffont, her lawyer contacted by RFI by phone, she has no information on the reasons behind these terms. According to her, their objective is to silence an author whose last book, Houris who won the Goncourt Prize in France was banished in Algeria because he treats atrocities of the black decade.

Other complaints have been filed against the author about this book. In France and Algeria, Kamel Daoud faces legal proceedings from a former victim of the civil conflict, accusing him of appropriating his story. According to the author, a campaign is orchestrated by the Algerian government against his person.

This complaint comes from a young woman, Saada Arbane, who survived the atrocities of the civil war. She accuses Kamel Daoud of having stolen her story to feed that of her heroine and launched legal actions in Algeria for non-compliance with medical confidentiality, because the testimony of the young woman was collected by a psychiatrist who is also the author’s wife.

A judicial appeal was also initiated in France against the writer and his publisher Gallimard, for violation of privacy and slander. A first meeting to establish the calendar for discussions between the parties will be held this Wednesday. First phase before a possible civil hearing in a few months.