Free Boualem Sansal!
[From November 2024 to Boualem Sansal’s release in November 2025]
Thea Dorn: »The relief was huge«
»On the release of Boualem Sansal — interview by Andrea Gerk with Thea Dorn, DLF Kultur, Lesart, 13 November 2025: »We all know the saying that mercy prevails over justice, and of course in this case it would have been far more appropriate to let justice prevail over mercy and to acquit Boualem Sansal of these absurd accusations of ‘offenses against the unity of the nation’. But since this was evidently unattainable given the real power structures in Algeria, one must say: at least a sick, courageous, not-so-young man has been released in this way. But naturally, it leaves a bitter aftertaste.« LINK
Press notice of November 12, 2025
Boualem Sansal free at last
After one year in prison in Algeria, Boualem Sansal safely arrived in Germany today. We are overjoyed — and deeply relieved! We send our best wishes to Boualem Sansal, his family, and his loved ones. Special thanks go to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has been negotiating discreetly but decisively behind the scenes for months — as well as to everyone who tirelessly advocated for Boualem Sansal’s release.
Press release of July 1, 2025
Sansal’s five-year prison sentence confirmed
Today, the Court of Appeal in Algiers confirmed the five-year prison sentence without parole handed down to French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal. This upholds the sentence issued on 27 March 2025. PEN Berlin and the German Publishers and Booksellers Association once again condemn this sentence in the strongest possible terms. PEN Berlin spokesperson Thea Dorn said: »Convicting a writer for an interview in which he neither incites hatred against the Algerian state nor spreads hatred in any other way is a political scandal. Anyone who treats critical voices in this way has no interest in the rule of law. Boualem Sansal does not belong in prison, but deserves the Ordre du Mérite national.« MORE
radio 3, Radio 3 am Nachmittag, interview by Frank Schmid with Thea Dorn, March 27, 2025: »Somehow it always does get through to the person who is imprisoned that there is someone out there who does care. As Navalny wrote in his book from the penal colony in Russia, the first thing such rulers, who act in such a rogue-like manner, try to make you believe is this: You are forgotten, you can rot away, no one out there cares about you anymore. And first of all, to say to the person who is sitting there in this unjust situation: No, no, you are not forgotten. That is a very important function.« LINK and AUDIO
3Sat, Kulturzeit, report by Lotar Schüler, 27 March 2025: »The verdict is in. Five years in prison for the Algerian-French writer Boualem Sansal. Claudia Roth, Minister of State for Culture and the Media: »Our common demand must now be: the immediate and unconditional release of a great writer and intellectual.« Thea Dorn: »It is very important that we continue to make the public aware of the case […] Because the first thing that happens in such a system is that they tell the prisoner: ›You have been forgotten, no one is interested in you anymore, you can rot here with us‹.« LINK and VIDEO
Press release of March 27, 2025
Five years in prison for Boualem Sansal
The verdict in the swift trial of the Algerian-French writer Boualem Sansal was announced today by the criminal court in Dar El Beïda, near Algiers. Sansal was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars (around 3,500 euros). PEN Berlin strongly condemns the trial and sentence and calls for the immediate release of the 80-year-old writer. »According to the current coalition negotiations, Algeria is to be declared a safe third country«, said Deniz Yücel, spokesperson for PEN Berlin. »Algeria is not safe, least of all for people who dare to criticise those in power.« MORE
Press release of March 20, 2025
Boualem Sansal faces ten years in prison
A swift trial against the Algerian-French writer Boualem Sansal began today at the criminal court in Dar El Beida near Algiers. The public prosecutor demanded a ten-year prison sentence for the 80-year-old writer, who has been awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. Sansal had to be represented by a court-appointed defence lawyer. The verdict is expected on 27 March. Deniz Yücel said: »What we are witnessing here is a judicial farce. We are concerned that the verdict has already been determined before this swift trial began. This is how rogue states act.« MORE
Radio 3, recording of the solidarity event with Herta Müller, Irina Scherbakowa, Daniel Kehlmann, Liao Yiwu, Kamel Daoud et al., moderated by Natascha Freundel, organized by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, Perlentaucher, and Merlin Verlag on 7 March 2025 at the Deutsches Theater Berlin. Daniel Kehlmann: »The police arrived and were very friendly, trained in conflict de-escalation and restrained, which I believe was also due to the fact that Deniz immediately approached the police in a very open and friendly manner. (…) To my mind, it was a gratifyingly civilized process and, I hope, nonetheless an effective one, (…) because it moves beyond the purely cultural sphere and precisely to where people want to conduct their business.« AUDIO [EXCERPT] and LINK [FULL EVENT]
DLF Kultur, report by Dieter Nürnberger, March 4 2025: »Members of the writers’ association PEN Berlin demonstrated in front of the Algerian trade fair stand for the release of Boualem Sansal, the French-Algerian writer who has been on a hunger strike for almost three weeks. (…) For Daniel Kehlmann, one of the most successful novelists in the German-speaking world, solidarity is self-evident. [He] speaks of a harmless sentence with serious consequences: ›The harmless sentence was that, in his opinion, Western Sahara traditionally belongs more to Morocco than to Algeria. For such a sentence − essentially an interpretation of historical circumstances, about which one could have a discussion if one wished − he was arrested for high treason, and it took some time before it even became known that he was in prison.‹« LINK and AUDIO
3sat, Kulturzeit, report by Luis Babst, March 4, 2025: »Tuesday noon at the International Tourism Fair in Berlin. Members of the PEN Berlin writers’ association are preparing for a protest: Freedom for Boualem Sansal That is what the authors are calling for. The French-Algerian writer was arrested upon entering the country at Algiers airport last November. The writer Thea Dorn is a spokesperson for PEN Berlin and is organizing the protest action: ›That a seriously ill 80-year-old man has been in detention for a fourth month without charges, that his lawyer is being denied access to the files (…) − that is the behavior of rogue states.‹ With their protest in front of an Algerian tourism stand, the demonstrators want to draw attention to the contrast between a holiday destination and human rights violations. (…) After a while, the police are called. They nevertheless allow the writers to continue demonstrating. (…) [Daniel Kehlmann:] ›We must demand his release. Just as, incidentally, the Western governments must as well. Macron has already done so. I very much hope that the German government will do the same. Freedom of expression exists only if we all have it. If it does not apply to some, it applies to no one.‹« LINK und VIDEO
rbb, radio3 am Nachmittag, report by Tomas Fitzel, March 4, 2025: »PEN Berlin is calling for the release of the Algerian writer Boualem Sansal. (…) Deniz Yücel: ›When I was in Turkish prison, at some point I saw a photo in a Turkish newspaper showing my friends, who were campaigning for me, carrying out a very similar protest action here at the ITB. Every protest action first and foremost has an addressee even before governments – the German government, the government concerned – the very first addressee is always the person, the colleague, who is sitting in prison. Because it gets through, because it matters, because the feeling of not being forgotten is important. That is the feeling we want to give Boualem Sansal.‹« LINK and AUDIO
Press release of November 24, 2024
Algeria: Freedom for Boualem Sansal!
Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 2011, was arrested a few days ago at Algiers airport on his return from Paris. (…) »The legitimacy of a state is not undermined by public criticism, but only by the actions of those in power. Algeria’s freedom is our colleague Boualem Sansal’s freedom«, said Thea Dorn, spokesperson for PEN Berlin. MORE