Morocco – Barlaman Today, Aug. 12, 2025
French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal has issued a letter from El-Harrach prison in Algiers, denouncing what he describes as the regime’s systematic use of imprisonment to silence dissent, Algerian activist Oualid Kebir published on his Facebook account on Tuesday.
In his letter, Sansal said he is being held in harsh conditions, with little air or light, along with journalists, activists, and writers, all detained for expressing their views.
The writer accused the Algerian authorities of using prisons as a routine tool of governance, targeting even those who have said nothing, “just to set an example.”
The 74-year-old author said his “crime” was to write that Algeria is “first and foremost a people who deserve dignity and justice,” not merely a flag and anthem.
The detained writer said illness is weakening him but vowed to continue speaking out, rejecting what he called the regime’s “façade of respectability.”
Addressing France directly, Sansal urged it to uphold its human rights principles beyond the Mediterranean, warning against sacrificing values for economic or political interests. “I am not asking for my freedom out of charity, but in the name of justice,” he wrote.
