Algerian Court Upholds Sansal's Five-Year Prison Sentence
Police arrested Sansal in November 2024, after he gave an interview to a French media company. In this interview, he said that France unfairly ceded Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial era.
Boualem Sansal is a well-known writer who has worked for a long time in Algeria. He has written a number of books which have been well received and won French literary awards.
Initially, an Algerian court sentenced him to a 5-years in prison and a $3,500 fine on March 27.
Sansal led an appeal and was acquitted after consistent calls by the French government. This is despite his being gravely ill with serious health conditions and cancer .
In January, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Algeria for its decision to detain the author and called the writer's imprisonment a 'disgrace.'
'Algeria dishonours itself by preventing a gravely ill man from receiving proper care,' Macron stated as he condemned Algeria's actions.
The French Prime Minister had hoped that the appeal would be carried out and that Sansal would be released, stating, 'France rejects the appeal court's decision to impose a prison sentence on our compatriot Boualem Sansal, which maintains the sentence handed down by the lower court.'
French authorities also urged the Algerian authorities to show empathy and find a swift, humanitarian, and dignified solution to the conflict. But this was very unlikely since Algeria is run by a regime responsible for countless human rights abuses.
Critics view Algeria's acts, including Sansal's arrest, as a geopolitical maneuver.
This is in response to deteriorating relations since France recognized Morocco's sovereignty over its southern provinces in Western Sahara in July last year. Algeria has long been financially and militarily supporting Polisario, a separatist group that challenges Moroccan sovereignty and its territorial integrity.
The Algerian regime also hosts, finances, arms, and trains the separatist militias, causing violent attacks within Morocco.
There has been some hope that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune will offer an official presidential pardon to Sansal during Algeria's Independence Day on Saturday.
But, at present, this remains unlikely, and this decision will have a big impact on the case. Tags: Boualem SansalFreedom of speech
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Morocco World
an hour ago
- Morocco World
Morocco Revamps Consular Network with 22 Strategic Appointments
Cologne – Morocco's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccan Expatriates has appointed 22 new Consuls General across key international posts. This shift, described as one of the most important in recent years, touches over a third of the country's consular network and aims to reinforce ties with Moroccan communities abroad through stronger, more responsive institutions. The decision reflects a broader push for modern, citizen-focused diplomacy. These appointments go beyond routine administrative changes. They suggest a new phase in Morocco's outreach to its diaspora, one built on competence, proximity, and a renewed sense of public service. The appointments cover some of the most vital destinations for Moroccan nationals. 13 new Consuls General now represent Morocco in France, the country with the largest Moroccan community abroad. Italy accounts for three more, while Spain and Belgium each see new leadership in select consulates. The ministry also chose to strengthen its presence in North America by assigning a new Consul General to New York. This focused redeployment touches the regions where Moroccans abroad most often seek assistance, guidance, and institutional support. Women at the helm For the first time, nearly half of the newly appointed Consuls General are women, 10 out of 22. This decision raises the percentage of women leading Moroccan consulates to 38%, a notable step in the ministry's pursuit of equal opportunity and recognition of talent. Rather than token appointments, these selections highlight experienced professionals whose profiles combine merit, service, and leadership. Among the 22 appointees, 11 will take on the role of Consul General for the first time. All have earned their place through years of service within the Ministry or Morocco's broader diplomatic corps. Seven others are transferring to new locations, while four return to consular duties after previous experience in the post. The ministry aims to preserve institutional memory while introducing fresh perspectives, a necessary combination for adapting to today's challenges. The profiles chosen for this wave of appointments reveal the message that Morocco expects more from its consulates. Many of the new officials possess a dual background in diplomacy and consular affairs, aligning with an expanded mission that includes citizen protection, cultural outreach, and economic cooperation. This transformation of Morocco's consular map confirms a deeper strategy, indicating that the country remains committed to a diplomacy grounded in the daily lives of its citizens, not detached from them. By entrusting these 22 officials with the responsibility of representing Morocco abroad, the North African country affirms its belief that public service, when driven by competence and conscience, can become a bridge between nations and citizens. Tags: Consulars generalMoroccopolitics
Morocco World
3 hours ago
- Morocco World
Independence & Interdependence
The Moroccan–American Treaty of Peace and Friendship (The Treaty of Marrakesh) was negotiated and signed in 1786, establishing diplomatic and commercial relations between the United States and Morocco. Unbeknownst to many Americans at the time (the population of the U.S. was just over three million), the treaty represented the first formal diplomatic treaty between the U.S. and any African or Muslim nation. It remains in force today, 239 years later. The treaty, negotiated by American diplomat Thomas Barclay and his Moroccan counterpart Tahir Fannish in Marrakesh, was conceived by visionary leaders guiding a new and untested republic across the Atlantic as well as a Moroccan sultan, Mohammed III (Mohammed ben Abdallah), who is often credited with forging the modern Moroccan state. History often finds larger meaning for seemingly modest events. This is likely the case for the enduring Morocco-United States relationship. In December 1789, President George Washington, having only been in office for several months, wrote to Mohammad III to acknowledge the sultan's August 1788 diplomatic letter to the US and to explain the delayed response from the newly formed nation. Washington thanked the Sultan for his nation's friendship and for his proactive diplomatic steps that '… make a deep impression on the United States and confirm their respect for and attachment to Your Imperial Majesty.' Over the next 230-plus years, the two nations would find themselves at the center of critical global events—a world war, recurring regional conflicts, the upheaval of the Arab Spring, a global health pandemic and a post-Cold War order that presents ongoing challenges to a global superpower like the United States and new opportunites for a regional power like Morocco. The 239-year relationship endures in ways large and small, from American Peace Corps volunteers teaching English in dar shababs to Moroccan financiers in New York and Moroccan actors in Hollywood. The $7 billion annual trade relationship includes citrus and automotive exports to the U.S. and animal feed and aerospace exports to Morocco. Security & Soft Power On security, the relationship is quite iconic. During the Roosevelt-Churchill summit in Casablanca in January 1943, US General George Patton made this entry in his diary about a car ride he shared with Sultan Mohammad V following a summit dinner held in the sultan's honor: 'I rode with Sultan and Grand Vizier to house of latter. On way Sultan said, 'Truly your President is a very great man and a great friend of myself and of my people'.' In 2025, the security relationship finds meaning across several domains, from combatting transnational drug trafficking to the 2020 Abraham Accords. The yearly African Lion military exercises held in southern Morocco have created a template for Maghreb regional security, and they represent U.S. Africa Command's largest regional annual exercise. For over a decade, Morocco has also established itself as a critical regional security partner to Europe. Following the November 2015 ISIS-inspired terror attacks on several public venues in Paris, French security services utilized critical Moroccan intelligence information to locate key members of the responsible terror cell. A week after the attacks, French President Francois Hollande received King Mohammed VI in Paris in part to thank him for Rabat's critical help. Late last year, four French nationals who were employees of the French Directorate General for External Security (DGSE) were freed from detention in Burkina Faso thanks to discreet intervention by Mohammad VI. The London School of Economics recently noted the approach of Morocco's OCP Group (the nation's phosphate enterprise) within Africa and how it differs markedly from previous models of foreign economic investment that were heavy on sales and light on cooperative knowledge sharing. The result is new agro-business investments, customized fertilisers and sustainable agriculture practices as the continent grows hotter and soil challenges mount. As America celebrates its independence this week, the global uncertainties of 2025 are perhaps more perplexing than those that existed in 1786 when the Treaty of Peace and Friendship was negotiated. That year, the U.S. Constitution had yet to be written and the newly formed United States possessed not a single naval ship, having disbanded the navy following the end of the Revolutionary War. The future had yet to arrive. For both nations, tumultuous and uncertain times demanded visionary leaders like Mohammed III, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. For Morocco and the United States, the benefits of an enduring friendship are, thankfully, still accruing. Tags: Morocco and US relationsUS and Morocco relations
Ya Biladi
4 hours ago
- Ya Biladi
Moroccan professor Abdellatif Bencherifa wins International Prize for German Geography
This year, the International Prize for German Geography has been awarded to Moroccan professor and researcher Abdellatif Bencherifa, the Frithjof Voss Foundation announced. A senior advisor to the president, honorary dean of the College of Social Sciences, and director of the Public Policy Center at the International University of Rabat (UIR), Bencherifa has been recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to geographic science, work that resonates far beyond the borders of his home country. The award ceremony will take place on October 24 at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. Renowned internationally, Bencherifa's expertise spans cultural geography, rural development sociology, and change studies. His research primarily focuses on Morocco's rural regions, including oases and mountain areas, pastoralism, migration, and development. In addition to his academic work, he explores fundamental philosophical questions within geography, while also bringing deep expertise in public policy, educational leadership, and territorial governance. He has authored or edited seven books and around 50 scholarly articles in French, Arabic, English, German, and Spanish. After earning his bachelor's degree in 1973, Bencherifa pursued postgraduate studies in human and social geography at Mohammed V University in Rabat, completing them in 1978. He later obtained a State Doctorate from Clark University in the United States in 1986. Alongside his academic research, he served as vice-dean of the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences at Mohammed V University (1990–1994), and vice-president of Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (1994–2002). He was later appointed president of Moulay Ismaïl University in Meknes (2002–2005). Bencherifa was also a member of the first administrative council of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) between 2002 and 2005. He contributed to the Fiftieth Anniversary Report and served on the Consultative Commission on Advanced Regionalization (2010–2011). Outside academia, he held several senior territorial positions between 2005 and 2016, including wali of the Gharb-Chrarda-Bni Hssen region, director of personnel at the Ministry of the Interior, and wali-director general of local authorities. He returned to academia in 2017, joining the International University of Rabat.
