An Algerian court on Tuesday upheld on appeal a five-year prison sentence for French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, whose case has strained ties between the two countries, according to an AFP journalist at the court.
Sansal, 80, was first sentenced to five years behind bars on March 27 on charges related to undermining Algeria's territorial integrity over comments made to a French media outlet last year.
Sansal is known for his criticism of Algerian authorities as well as of Islamists. He was arrested in November and stood trial after saying in an interview with a far-right French media outlet that France unfairly ceded Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial era.
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The statement, which echoed a long-standing Moroccan claim, was viewed by Algeria as an affront to its national sovereignty.
The author's arrest in Algiers deepened a diplomatic rift with France, which analysts have said is the worst the two countries have seen in years.
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A court in Dar El Beida near Algiers sentenced "the defendant in his presence to a five-year prison term" with a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars ($3,730).
Prosecutors at an Algiers court in March requested a 10-year prison sentence for the novelist whose work has remained available in Algeria despite his criticism of the government.
Though Sansal was relatively unknown in France before his arrest, the trial has sparked a wave of support from French intellectuals and officials.
France's prime minister on Tuesday said he hoped Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune would pardon Sansal.
"Now that the sentence has been handed down, we can imagine pardon measures, particularly in view of our compatriot's health, will be taken," said Prime Minister François Bayrou, calling the situation "unacceptable".
French President Emmanuel Macron has dismissed the accusations against Sansal as "not serious" but had expressed confidence in Tebboune's "clarity of vision" on the matter.
Macron has repeatedly called for the writer's release, citing his fragile state of health due to cancer.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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