On the case of Boualem Sansal in Algeria

B100090/2025

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the case of Boualem Sansal in Algeria

(2025/2512(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to Rule 150(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas on 16 November 2024, Boualem Sansal, internationally renowned French-Algerian writer, was arrested by the police at Algiers airport on charges of “undermining state security”; whereas the health situation of the 75-year-old author is very fragile; whereas the charges stem from comments that Sansal made about the colonial-era borders between Algeria and Morocco, accusing the Algerian government of inventing the Polisario Front to destabilise Morocco;

B.whereas Boualem Sansal has been criticising the Algerian regime for decades; whereas the author has reported extensively on the political and social grievances in Algeria, the ongoing and everyday violence of the Islamists, and the intimidation of the government against dissidents; whereas Sansal has warned against the dangers of political Islam and the Islamisation of France and has also pointed at the human tragedies surrounding migration movements;

C.whereas Christians in Algeria endure multiple forms of discrimination in their daily lives; whereas of the 47 churches that belong to the Protestant Church in Algeria, only one remains open;

D.whereas relations between the EU and Algeria are based on the 2002 Association Agreement, that entered into force in 2005; whereas the EU-Algeria partnership enshrines political dialogue, the rule of law and legal and judicial cooperation; whereas EU bilateral allocation to Algeria for 2021-2024 amounts to 160 million Euro and is complemented by other programmes to promote among other things the protection of individual rights (1.6 million Euro for 2021-2024);

1.Is of the opinion that nobody should be detained for uttering an opinion; calls for the immediate release of Boualem Sansal; welcomes, in this regard, the petition of prominent writers including the likes of Kamel Daoud, Salman Rushdie and Orhan Pamuk;

2.Expresses its concern about the discrimination against the Christian minority and the closure of non-Muslim places of worship in Algeria; calls, in this regard, for a thorough evaluation and monitoring of the financial assistance that has been disbursed to Algeria to promote the protection of rights of people belonging to religious minorities;

3.Calls on the Algerian authorities to refrain from strong verbal accusations against Member States of the EU; condemns the use of the law and legal procedures by Algerian authorities to try to silence or sanction a European Parliament Member for giving political comments;

4.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the President, government and parliament of Algeria.