France urges Algeria to pardon jailed writer Sansal

France is appealing to Algeria to pardon acclaimed author Boualem Sansal, after an Algerian appeals court upheld his five-year sentence for “undermining territorial integrity,” according to AFP. French On Tuesday, Prime Minister François Bayrou expressed hope that Sansal, 80, who is undergoing prostate cancer treatment, might benefit from a humanitarian pardon.

Sansal, a prize-winning French-Algerian known for criticizing both Algerian authorities and Islamists, was convicted over remarks to a far-right French outlet suggesting France unfairly transferred Moroccan land to Algeria during colonial rule — an allegation Algiers sees as challenging its sovereignty.

France’s foreign ministry called the sentence “incomprehensible,” urging Algerian authorities to show clemency and release Sansal to receive medical care. Some family members hope he could be pardoned on Algeria’s Independence Day, July 5. The case has worsened already tense Franco-Algerian relations, which have been strained by disagreements over migration policy and France’s recognition of Moroccan claims to Western Sahara.