French writer jailed in Algeria won't appeal: supporters

French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal will not appeal his five-year prison sentence to Algeria's Supreme Court, sources close to the author said Saturday, as Paris stepped up its calls for him to be pardoned.

The 80-year-old dual national was sentenced to five years in March on charges related to undermining Algeria's territorial integrity over comments made to a French media outlet.

"According to our information, he will not appeal to the Supreme Court," the president of the author's support committee, Noelle Lenoir, told broadcaster France Inter.

"Moreover, given the state of the justice system in Algeria... he has no chance of having his offence reclassified on appeal," the former European affairs minister added.

"This means that the sentence is final."

Sources close to Sansal told AFP the writer had "given up his right to appeal".

His French lawyer, Pierre Cornut-Gentille, declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said earlier this week he hoped Algeria would pardon the author, whose family has highlighted his treatment for prostate cancer.

But Sansal was not on a list of thousands of people pardoned by Algeria's president on Friday, the eve of the country's independence day.

- 'Intolerable' -

Bayrou returned the subject on Saturday.

"Boualem Sansal has not been convicted for what he might have done but for opinions expressed," he told members of his party at a Paris meeting, the Parisien newspaper reported.

"And that one of our compatriots, 80 years old and ill, is thus imprisoned is intolerable," he added.

Lenoir said she remained hopeful.

"We believe he will be released. It is impossible for Algeria to take responsibility for his death in prison," she said.

A prize-winning figure in north African modern francophone literature, Sansal is known for his criticism of Algerian authorities as well as of Islamists.

The case against him arose after he told the far-right outlet Frontieres that France had unjustly transferred Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial period from 1830 to 1962.

Algeria views that claim as a challenge to its sovereignty and one that aligns with longstanding Moroccan territorial assertions.

Sansal was detained in November 2024 upon arrival at Algiers airport. On March 27, a court in the town of Dar El Beida sentenced him to a five-year prison term and fined him 500,000 Algerian dinars ($3,730).

Appearing in court without legal counsel on June 24, Sansal said the case against him "makes no sense", as "the Algerian constitution guarantees freedom of expression and conscience".

The writer's conviction has further strained France-Algeria relations, already complicated by issues such as migration and France's recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a disputed territory claimed by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, an armed separatist movement.