Boualem Sansal: French-Algerian writer jailed over Morocco comments

An Algerian court has sentenced 80-year-old writer Boualem Sansal to five years in prison for allegedly undermining the country's territorial integrity.

The ruling follows his controversial comments in a far-right French media interview, where he claimed France gave too much land to Algeria and too little to Morocco during the colonial era.

Sansal, who has been in poor health, has drawn international support, with figures like Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka and French President Emmanuel Macron calling for his release.

His detention has further strained diplomatic ties between Algeria and France, already tense over Western Sahara.

His lawyer has urged Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to intervene on humanitarian grounds. Meanwhile, Sansal’s upcoming novel *Vivre*, set for release in May, explores survival in an apocalyptic future.