The prosecutor's office at a court near Algiers on Thursday requested a 10-year prison sentence for Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, accused of undermining Algeria's territorial integrity, whose case has exacerbated already high tensions between Algiers and Paris.

The Dar El Beida Criminal Court will deliver its verdict on March 27 in the trial of this novelist known for his criticism of the Algerian government and Islamists, who has been imprisoned since November 16, the day he arrived at Algiers airport, according to Echorouk and TSA media.

The Sansal affair, which has received widespread support in France, has exacerbated tensions between Paris and Algiers, whose relations had deteriorated sharply following French President Emmanuel Macron's recognition in July 2024 of an autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty for Western Sahara.

This non-autonomous territory, whose status is yet to be defined by the UN, has been the scene of a 50-year conflict between Morocco, which de facto controls around 80% of it, and the Polisario Front separatists, supported by Algiers.

Boualem Sansal, 80 years old according to his French publisher Gallimard, faces several charges, including "undermining national unity, insulting a constituted body, practices likely to harm the national economy and possession of videos and publications threatening the security and stability of the country."

According to the prosecution, the writer made statements that undermined the integrity of Algerian territory. These include statements made last October to the French media outlet Frontières, known for its far-right stance, echoing Morocco's position that the latter's territory was truncated under French colonization for the benefit of Algeria.

His trial took place "this Thursday, March 20, under ordinary conditions, without special arrangements," according to the Arabic-language newspaper Echorouk, which noted that Mr. Sansal had "preferred to defend himself" and was not assisted by any lawyer.

The writer's French lawyer, François Zimeray, announced on March 11 that he intended to refer the matter to several UN bodies to denounce Mr. Sansal's "arbitrary detention," claiming that he did not have normal access to lawyers or medical care. These claims were rejected by the president of the Algiers Bar, Mohamed Baghdadi, who indicated that the writer had decided of his own volition to defend himself and that he was continuing his cancer treatment.

- "Express an opinion" -

Appearing "in good health", according to the Echorouk journalist, Mr. Sansal denied on Thursday any intention to harm Algeria, assuring that he had only "expressed an opinion like any Algerian citizen".

According to Echorouk, he admitted that he had not appreciated the fact that his statements could be considered as undermining Algerian institutions, and claimed to be "an Algerian who loves his country", without there being "any doubt about his patriotism".

Following the French U-turn on Western Sahara, an issue on which Paris had a more neutral position, Algeria withdrew its ambassador to Paris last summer and threatened France with further reprisals.

From the autumn onwards, the Sansal affair had a major impact in France, where it received support from intellectual and political circles.

The arrest in Paris in early January of Algerian influencers for promoting violence and the expulsion of Algerians sent back by Algiers in recent weeks have further deteriorated bilateral relations.

Tensions rose to a new level after the attack on February 22 in Mulhouse, which left one person dead. The perpetrator was an Algerian who had been ordered to leave the country, which Algeria had repeatedly rejected.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has issued a string of harsh statements against Algiers, threatening to revoke various bilateral agreements as part of a "graduated response."

At the end of February, President Macron attempted to calm things down, stating that bilateral relations should not be "the subject of political games", while the French right and far right seized on the issue raised by Mr Retailleau, himself campaigning for the presidency of the Les Républicains (LR, right) party.

Mr. Macron had invited the two capitals to "re-engage in in-depth work" on immigration agreements, calling on Algiers to "resolve" the Sansal case, whose "health is of great concern to us," so that "trust is fully restored" between the two countries.