Free Boualem Sansal!
Numerous Peace Prize winners, laudators and other people associated with the Peace Prize have joined an appeal by Perlentaucher, Merlin Verlag and the Börsenverein to show their solidarity with Boualem Sansal. You too can sign the appeal!
Thierry Chervel from Perlentaucher and the Börsenverein have published an appeal in cooperation with Merlin Verlag an "Leipziger Initiative", which has been joined by numerous Peace Prize winners, laudators and other people associated with the Peace Prize.
You can sign the appeal by completing this form
If you have any questions, please contact M.Schult@boev.de
#Free Boualem Sansal!
November 27, 2024. Boualem Sansal, the recipient of the 2011 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, faces the threat of several years of imprisonment due to statements on Algerian history. Sansal has Algerian and French citizenship and is therefore a European. We, German and international writers, journalists, and representatives of cultural organizations, call for solidarity with Boualem Sansal. To the Algerian government, we have one clear message: no writer should be imprisoned for their opinions. We demand his immediate release! We support the efforts of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to seek clarification about Sansal’s situation.
UPDATE: Boualem Sansal's application for release has been rejected by the Algerian judiciary, Le Figaro has been informed. Boualem Sansal will remain in prison. (Updated on 11 December 2024)
For days, the Algerian writer Boualem Sansal had been missing. Yesterday, he was finally presented to a court in Algiers. It remains unclear whether he has access to independent legal representation or not. He is being prosecuted for his statements about Algerian history—statements for which Algeria’s legal code prescribes draconian penalties. A writer is being threatened with imprisonment for expressing his views.
Boualem Sansal is a prominent critic of the Algerian regime and of Islamism. He does not shy away from condemning an “official” Islam that, in his view, has failed to effectively counter Islamism, whether in Muslim or Western countries. You do not have to agree with his opinions. But if you want to have a discussion, you can't allow yourself to be robbed of your counterpart.
Sansal’s French lawyer, François Zimeray, told RTL he fears that Sansal could be charged with espionage for allegedly provoking Algerian nationalism. A show trial could lead to a lengthy prison sentence. Sansal, as both an Algerian and a French citizen, is also a European. We, German and international writers, journalists, and representatives of cultural organizations, call for solidarity with Boualem Sansal. To the Algerian government, we have one clear message: no writer should be imprisoned for their opinions. We demand his immediate release!
We support Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot, in their efforts to obtain clarification from the Algerian government on Boualem Sansal’s whereabouts and to inform the German and European public about the government’s response. Sansal needs access to independent legal counsel, family, friends, and representatives of the French embassy.
As his colleague and friend Kamel Daoud said, “disappearing” Boualem Sansal undermines the possibility of debate at a time of extreme polarization. Such a policy aims to destroy democracy—even in Europe. If democracies fail to oppose such actions, they are doomed.
Svetlana Alexievich (Peace Prize of the German Book Trade 2013, Nobel Prize for Literature 2015)
Anne Applebaum (Peace Prize 2024)
Aleida Assmann (Peace Prize 2018)
Margaret Atwood (Peace Prize 2017)
Seyla Benhabib (AdornoPrize 2024, Laudation for Carolin Emcke 2016)
Klaus Brinkbäumer (Member of the Peace Prize jury)
Carolin Emcke (Peace Prize 2016)
Raphael Gross (Member of the Peace Prize jury)
David Grossman (Peace Prize 2010)
Elfriede Jelinek (Nobel Prize for Literature 2004)
Daniel Kehlmann (Laudation for Salman Rushdie 2023)
Navid Kermani (Peace Prize2015)
Claus Leggewie (Scientist)
Jo Lendle (Member of the Peace Prize jury)
Wolf Lepenies (Peace Prize 2006)
Liao Yiwu (Peace Prize 2012)
Herta Müller (Nobel Prize for Literature 2009)
Michael Naumann (Laudation for Péter Esterházy 2004)
Orhan Pamuk (Peace Prize 2005, Nobel Prize for Literature 2006)
Salman Rushdie (Peace Prize 2023)
Joachim Sartorius (Laudation for Orhan Pamuk 2005)
Irina Scherbakowa (Nobel Prize of Peace 2022 with Memorial, Laudation for Anne Applebaum 2024)
Karl Schlögel (Laudation for Claudio Magris 2009 and Swetlana Alexijewitsch 2013)
Karin Schmidt-Friderichs (President of Börsenverein, Member of the Peace Prize jury)
Martin Schulz (Laudation for Jaron Lanier 2014)
Thierry Chervel (Perlentaucher)
Eva Quistorp
Martin Schult (Börsenverein)
The other signatories can be found on the German side