Algeria pardons writer Boualem Sansal
Algeria accepted a German proposal to pardon French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, the presidency said Wednesday, News.Az reports, citing France 24.
French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal was set to be released from prison, the Algerian presidential office said in a statement on Wednesday.
Sansal, 81, was sentenced to jail on charges related to undermining Algeria's territorial integrity over comments made to a French media outlet last year.
His pardon came after German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Algeria to free the 81-year-old writer. "The president of the republic decided to respond positively to the request of the esteemed president of the friendly Federal Republic of Germany", said the Algerian presidential statement.
The statement said Germany "will be in charge of the transfer and treatment" of Sansal, who suffers from prostate cancer according to his family.
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