Algerian writers instrumentalized by the french right

Algeria and France: Between Two Fronts

By Sabine Kebir

On November 16, 2023, Boualem Sansal, a writer traveling from France, was arrested at Algiers airport on charges of « endangering the state’s security interests. » Sansal is an internationally renowned author who, among other honors, received the German Book Trade Peace Prize. Although Sansal has been a strong critic of Algeria, he had not previously faced political difficulties. Like all Algerian writers, however, he struggles with a limited readership in his home country and thus seeks publication opportunities in France, a common practice since independence.

The reason given for the arrest of the 75-year-old is an interview he gave in early October to the right-wing French newspaper Frontières. In the interview, he not only supported President Emmanuel Macron’s recent recognition of the Western Sahara as part of Morocco but also advanced the claim that large parts of western Algeria historically belonged to the Moroccan monarchy’s sphere of influence. According to him, Algeria only became a nation with defined borders through French colonization. Historically, this claim is untenable, as Morocco’s zone of influence in the current border area had already been limited since the 16th century by Spain and later by the Ottoman Caliphate.

Given that Algeria experienced an armed territorial conflict with Morocco shortly after independence and has strongly advocated for Western Sahara’s right to self-determination, Sansal’s statements offended not only the Algerian state but also its population. There is no internal dissent on this issue, making Sansal’s arrest unnecessary and deeply regrettable. However erroneous his claims may be, they are merely his opinion and should not be subject to legal action; they should instead be publicly debated. Such a debate has scarcely taken place in France. Historian Benjamin Stora, tasked by Macron with addressing France’s colonial past in Algeria and striving for objectivity, emphasized that the independence movement, not aspirations for annexation to Morocco, had strong roots in western Algeria. Despite the many easily verifiable facts, French media have labeled Sansal the “Voltaire of Algeria” and implied that he is imprisoned for his entire literary work.

What deserves condemnation is not only the detention of a writer but also his instrumentalization by the French right, including by President Macron, who uses him to support his Morocco-aligned policy. It is likely no coincidence that Macron recently granted Sansal French citizenship through an expedited process.

Another internationally renowned Algerian writer, Kamel Daoud, has also been a dual citizen since 2020. Residing in France, he enjoys a level of attention similar to Sansal. Although until recently he wrote widely-read critical columns for Algerian media and was not prevented from doing so abroad, he now joins the chorus of French media lamenting the lack of freedom of expression in Algeria. However, the issue Daoud currently faces in Algeria is quite different from that of Sansal. Daoud faces a lawsuit for violating personal rights in his latest novel, Houris, which won the Prix Goncourt.

The novel’s title refers to the virgins promised in the Quran to male Muslims in paradise—a concept exploited today by Islamists to groom young terrorists. The story revolves around the fate of a woman who survived a horrific attack during the 1990s civil war, when Islamist fanatics abducted, raped, and brutally killed countless women. If the victim, Saâda Arbane, had only recognized general similarities to her story in the novel, filing a lawsuit would have been difficult. However, physical details that make her unmistakable, including a circular medical device around her neck necessary for breathing and two tattoos, are attributed to the fictional character Aube. These details appear to have been derived from Arbane’s medical history, as she was under the psychiatric care of Daoud’s wife, Aïcha Dehdouh, and her medical file went missing from the clinic. Arbane had explicitly refused to allow her story to be used in a novel or adapted for film. A separate case is underway against Dehdouh for breaching medical confidentiality.

French media have ignored interviews with Arbane and her lawyer on Algerian online platforms, as well as an interview with Daoud’s sister, Wassila, who is trying to convince her brother that his work is more important in Algeria than in France, even if it means facing the lawsuit.

Rachid Nekkaz, another dissident dual national who has firsthand experience of Algerian prisons, warns that intellectuals risk being co-opted by the French right. He stresses that Algeria’s lack of rule of law does not justify defamatory campaigns against the country, campaigns reminiscent of those that preceded the interventions in Libya and Syria.

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