The writer Boualem Sansal, imprisoned in Kolea prison since November 2024 for undermining the territorial integrity of the country, was pardoned by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and transferred to Germany following a request from his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the presidency announced this Wednesday in a statement.
“On 10 November 2025, the President of the Republic, Mr Abdelmadjid Tebboune, received a request from Mr Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, seeking clemency for Boualem Sansal.
The President of the Republic responded favourably to this request, which caught his attention due to its nature and humanitarian grounds,” the presidency’s statement indicated.
“In application of Article 91, paragraph 8, of the Constitution and after legal consultation, the President of the Republic decided to grant a favourable response to the request of His Excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, a friendly country,” the text specified, adding that “the German state will take charge of the transfer and treatment” of Boualem Sansal.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier requested from President Tebboune “the clemency of Boualem Sansal.”
According to the German head of state, “such a gesture would be an expression of a humanitarian spirit and great political insight.”
“This initiative reflects not only the long-standing personal ties with President Tebboune but also the quality of relations between Germany and Algeria,” he said.
It should be recalled that the Algiers Court confirmed on 1 July the five-year prison sentence handed down against the writer Boualem Sansal, initially decided on 27 March by the Dar El Beïda court.
Suffering from prostate cancer, Sansal, 75, was transferred on Tuesday morning to the city of Berlin.