Berlin, Nov 10, (dpa/GNA) – German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on Monday asked his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, to pardon the imprisoned Franco-Algerian author Boualem Sansal.
“Such a gesture would be an expression of humanitarian sentiment and political foresight. It would reflect my longstanding personal relationship with President Tebboune and the good relations between our countries,” Steinmeier said in Berlin.
Sansal, who won the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 2011, was arrested in mid-November last year upon landing in Algiers.
In March, he was sentenced to five years in prison for undermining national unity and security.
The charges stem from an interview, in which he stated that Morocco’s national borders had been altered in Algeria’s favour, during the French colonial era.
The German president noted that Sansal, has been in prison for a year. In view of his advanced age and fragile health, Steinmeier suggested that Sansal be allowed to leave Algeria for Germany, and offered to provide him with medical care.
Sansal’s conviction earlier this year, was met with sharp criticism in France.
GNA