Boualem Sansal speaks to the press in Frankfurt in 2011, the year he won the Peace Prize of the German Trade Industry. Image: FBM, Name: Fernando Baptista
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Schmidt-Friderichs: ‘Work for the Release of Boualem Sansal’
This morning (November 25), the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, Germany’s publishers and booksellers association, has joined Merlin Verlag and others in many markets of world publishing in demanding that Algiers release the author Boualem Sansal, the 2011 winner of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.
International news media report that Sansal, 75, was arrested at the Algiers airport on Wednesday (November 16), something the Börsenverein says was not confirmed by Algerian authorities for several days.
“The regime accuses him of having questioned the Algerian nation’s right to exist and its historical borders, as France 24 reported on November 23,” the Börsenverein’s media messaging says.
The organization and Merlin Verlag say they see this as a violation of the human right to freedom of expression and they’re asking the German government to work for Boualem Sansal’s release.
A message from Sansal’s publisher at Merlin, Katharina Eleonore Meyer, reads, “As a critical intellectual, Boualem Sansal has been publicly expressing his opinion for years in favor of truth and authenticity, despite criticism and threats.
“Together with all those who value Boualem Sansal’s work and are friends with him, we are very worried about him.”
Karin Schmidt-Friderichs
And the Börsenverein’s statement comes from its chief, Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, who says, “One of the most important principles of peaceful coexistence is the right of every person to express their opinion freely.
“Therefore no country has the right to arrest and sentence a person just because it does not agree with his opinion.
“Given the obviously difficult relations between France and Algeria, we therefore ask the German government to take action and work for the release of Boualem Sansal.”
Indeed, Hugh Schofeld at BBC News has reported that France’s Emmanuel Macron has called for information about the French-Algerian author, quoting the Elysée palace statement saying, “The president is very concerned and is following the situation closely. He holds very dear the freedom of this great writer and intellectual.”
Verlag Merlin’s edition of Boualem Sansal’s 2015 ‘2084: The End of the World’
Schofeld further reports that as of today, there had been no official response from Algeria to Macron’s concerns.
The Börsenverein refers to reports from Le Monde and Radio France International, which indicate that the arrest could be a response to Sansal’s comments in an October interview “on the historical course of the border between Algeria and Morocco, as well as his criticism of Algeria’s support for the Polisario organisation, which lays claim to the Western Sahara area, largely controlled by Morocco. The decades-old dispute over the future of the resource-rich region was given new impetus in July this year after France came out in favor of the Moroccan autonomy plan.”
Today’s message of alarm goes on to say, “The trained engineer and economist Boualem Sansal, who worked as a high-ranking official in the Algerian ministry of industry until his dismissal in 2003, began writing in the mid-1990s.
“As a writer, he takes a stand, gets involved, and criticizes, even when it puts him in great danger. In his literary debut, The Oath of the Barbarians (1999), Sansal gives an impressive account of his country, reporting on the political, social, and moral grievances, the everyday violence of the Islamists, and the subtle intimidation of the government against dissidents. Nevertheless, Boualem Sansal still lives in Algeria today.
“Years ago, Sansal drew the attention of his European readers to the dangers of political Islam, the human tragedies of migration movements, and the dangers of totalitarian developments in the world, using literature and at many public events.
“Boualem Sansal has received many awards, including the Grand Prize of the Académie française. In Germany, Boualem Sansal was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 2011 for his efforts to promote peaceful dialogue between cultures.”
Update: International Publishers Association (IPA), based in Geneva, has issued a statement from Kristenn Einarsson, the association’s Freedom to Publish committee chair and the founding chief of Norway’s World Expression Forum, WEXFO, has added his message of concern to the mounting chorus of objection in many parts of the world to the news of Sansal’s arrest, saying, “We appeal to the Algerian authorities to release Boualem Sansal, a champion of freedom of expression.”
The IPA makes the point that the French publisher Gallimard was banned from, participation ion the Algiers International Book Fair because of the company’s publication of another Algerian author, Kamel Daoud.
And the jury of the Peace Prize in 2011 wrote about its selection of Sansal, saying:
“The German Publishers and Booksellers Association awards the 2011 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade to Boualem Sansal. In doing so, the association and its members have chosen to honor an Algerian author and passionate storyteller who has consistently encouraged intercultural dialogue in a spirited and compassionate manner as well as in an atmosphere of respect and mutual understanding.
“Boualem Sansal is one of the few remaining intellectuals in Algeria who continue to voice criticism of political and social conditions in that country. With his unrelenting plea for the kind of free speech and public dialogue that are hall-marks of a democratic society, he labors against all forms of doctrinarian blindness, terror and political arbitrariness. His critical view is, however, directed not only at his homeland, but also at the entire contemporary world.”
More on the German market is here, more on the work of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels is here, and more on the freedom to write, read, and publish is here.
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