The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said he is concerned about the “arbitrary detention” and health of Boualem Sansal, days after the French-Algerian author began a hunger strike over his imprisonment in Algeria.
Sansal’s arrest was linked to comments the writer had made to the far-right French outlet Frontières in which he backed the argument that Morocco’s land was truncated by colonial France in the 19th century to the benefit of what would become Algeria.
His latest comments came on Friday during a speech in Porto, Portugal, in which he said that Sansal’s imprisonment was among the issues that needed settling before confidence between France and Algeria could be fully restored, according to Reuters.
“Writers like Boualem Sansal do not belong behind bars,” said Karin Karlekar, Pen America’s director of Writers at Risk, on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Pen America issued a statement calling for the immediate release of 75-year-old Sansal, noting that “his hunger strike adds to grave concerns for his wellbeing”.
