Algeria seeks longer jail term for writer Sansal

Algeria’s prosecutor general has appealed for a 10-year prison sentence for Boualem Sansal, doubling his initial five-year term handed down in March, AFP reported Tuesday. Sansal, a dual Algerian-French author known for criticizing both Algerian authorities and Islamists, was convicted of undermining national integrity after suggesting in a far-right French media interview that France unfairly ceded Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial period.

The comments echoed Morocco’s long-standing claims and angered Algiers, further fueling diplomatic tensions between Algeria and France. French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to show “mercy and humanity,” but Algerian officials maintain the trial met legal standards.

Sansal’s case has become a flashpoint in already strained Franco-Algerian relations, complicated by migration disputes and France’s recognition last year of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara—an area contested by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front. The final ruling on Sansal’s appeal is pending.