{"id":5068,"date":"2026-10-23T20:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T20:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/?p=5068"},"modified":"2026-10-23T20:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T20:08:12","slug":"tlemcen-and-maghnia-are-moroccan-boualem-sansal-reopens-the-border-dispute-and-threatens-to-sue-tebboune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/tlemcen-and-maghnia-are-moroccan-boualem-sansal-reopens-the-border-dispute-and-threatens-to-sue-tebboune\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTlemcen and Maghnia Are Moroccan\u201d&#8230; Boualem Sansal Reopens the Border Dispute and Threatens to Sue Tebboune"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Boualem Sansal Reopens the Moroccan-Algerian Border Question and Announces Plans to Sue Tebboune: From Tlemcen and Maghnia to Accountability for His Arrest<\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The release of writer Boualem Sansal in November 2025 did not bring to an end his confrontation with the Algerian authorities over his statements about the Moroccan-Algerian border. In October 2026, the writer once again defended his interpretation of the historical ties between Morocco and several territories now located within Algeria, while reiterating his intention to pursue legal action against President Abdelmadjid Tebboune over what he considers the authorities\u2019 responsibility for his arrest.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In an interview with DW Arabic, Sansal again referred to Tlemcen, Maghnia and other parts of western Algeria, drawing on his interpretation of the colonial history of the region\u2019s borders. The case has therefore returned to the issue from which it began: historical and political statements challenged by the Algerian authorities, followed by criminal proceedings that resulted in a five-year prison sentence, before the writer was released under a presidential pardon on 12 November 2025.<\/p>\n<div class=\"xb57i2i x1q594ok x5lxg6s x78zum5 xdt5ytf x6ikm8r x1ja2u2z x1pq812k x1rohswg xfk6m8 x1yqm8si xjx87ck xx8ngbg xwo3gff x1n2onr6 x1oyok0e x1odjw0f x1iyjqo2 xy5w88m\">\n<div class=\"x78zum5 xdt5ytf x1iyjqo2 x1n2onr6 xaci4zi x129vozr\">\n<div class=\"html-div xdj266r x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak xexx8yu xyri2b x18d9i69 x1c1uobl x78zum5 xdt5ytf x1iyjqo2 x7ywyr2\">\n<div class=\"x1n2onr6 x1ja2u2z x9f619 x78zum5 xdt5ytf x2lah0s x193iq5w xyamay9\">\n<div class=\"x9f619 x1n2onr6 x1ja2u2z x78zum5 xdt5ytf x1iyjqo2 x2lwn1j\">\n<div class=\"x9f619 x1n2onr6 x1ja2u2z x78zum5 xdt5ytf x2lah0s x193iq5w xf7dkkf xv54qhq x1k70j0n xzueoph xzboxd6 x14l7nz5\">\n<div class=\"x6s0dn4 xal61yo x1obq294 x5a5i1n xde0f50 x15x8krk x78zum5 xdt5ytf x6ikm8r x10wlt62 x1n2onr6 xh8yej3\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"xl1xv1r\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F1862981681786865%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=476&amp;t=0\" width=\"476\" height=\"476\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">His latest statements bring together two questions that need to be examined separately. The first concerns the history and territorial delimitation of the Moroccan-Algerian border, including the consequences of the redrawing of boundaries during the colonial period. The second concerns legal responsibility for his arrest, trial and the conditions under which his defence was conducted. These issues have been intertwined since the beginning of the case, but neither settles the other. A disagreement over historical interpretation does not, by itself, establish whether an arrest was lawful or unlawful, just as objections to the conditions of a trial do not resolve every historical question raised by the writer.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">From statements to a prison sentence: how the case developed<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The legal confrontation began on 16 November 2024, when Sansal was arrested at Algiers airport upon returning from France. The arrest followed statements he had made in an interview with a French media outlet, in which he discussed Algeria\u2019s borders and territories that, in his view, France incorporated into Algeria during the colonial period despite their historical connections with Morocco.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He was subsequently placed in pretrial detention over allegations including offences relating to the integrity of the national territory and state security. The case was associated with Article 87 bis of Algeria\u2019s Penal Code, which covers offences related to terrorism and sabotage under the definitions established by law. The seriousness of the charges, however, does not in itself establish that the writer\u2019s historical statements constituted a criminal offence. That assessment requires examination of the specific facts in the case, the legal grounds for the conviction and whether the law was applied proportionately to the conduct alleged.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">On 27 March 2025, a court sentenced him to five years in prison and imposed a fine, in proceedings that prompted criticism concerning the safeguards available to the defence. Sansal appealed, as did the public prosecutor, who had sought a harsher sentence. On 1 July 2025, the appeal court upheld the prison term. France subsequently expressed its regret over the decision and called for a swift humanitarian solution that took account of the writer\u2019s age and health.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Concerns about the proceedings were not confined to French political reactions. French lawyer Fran\u00e7ois Zimeray encountered difficulties obtaining a visa that would have allowed him to travel to Algeria and meet his client, according to press reports and documents concerning the case. The issue renewed debate over a defendant\u2019s right to choose legal representation and the conditions under which a foreign lawyer may work alongside local counsel under the applicable rules.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This question has a legal significance independent of the historical dispute over the border. Examining the legality of an arrest and trial does not require accepting Sansal\u2019s interpretation of history. Conversely, rejecting his statements does not relieve the authorities of their obligation to respect defence rights and fair-trial guarantees. The complete judicial record\u2014including the evidence relied upon by the court and detailed official responses to the defence\u2019s objections\u2014remains necessary for any definitive legal assessment.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">The borders inherited from colonial rule: what does the historical record establish?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Sansal case extends beyond the writer\u2019s personal circumstances because it has brought renewed attention to a genuine historical question: how the border between Morocco and Algeria took shape during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Examining that question requires distinguishing among three related but separate matters: historical ties between neighbouring cities and territories, border changes under French colonial expansion, and the legal status of the boundaries between two independent states.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Treaty of Lalla Maghnia, signed on 18 March 1845, is a key reference point. Concluded after the French occupation of Algeria and the war that ended with the Battle of Isly, it established part of the boundary between Morocco and Algeria. Academic studies nevertheless point out that the delimitation did not cover all southern areas and that the French colonial administration subsequently established additional administrative lines, including the so-called Warnier line in 1912 and the Trinquet line in 1938, in Saharan areas where boundaries remained problematic.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">These historical facts support the conclusion that the present-day border did not emerge in a single act and that the colonial administration played a role in defining and modifying it. They do not, on their own, prove that every city or territory Sansal associates with Morocco historically fell under Moroccan sovereignty in the same legal sense throughout every period. The history of political territories, the authority exercised over cities by successive dynasties and rulers, and the administrative boundaries established by France are connected questions, but they are not interchangeable.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Tlemcen, for example, has a long political and cultural history in the western Maghreb. It experienced successive dynasties and authorities, including the Zayyanids, who made it their capital, as well as periods of rivalry and interaction among powers that controlled different parts of the Maghreb. Maghnia has particular significance because of its border location and its place in the history of Moroccan-Algerian relations. Reducing this complex history to a single assertion based on one period cannot establish an absolute historical claim of Moroccan sovereignty, nor can it erase the historical ties that connected these areas with Morocco.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Moroccan and Algerian academic studies offer differing interpretations of the border\u2019s development, including the effects of the Treaty of Lalla Maghnia and subsequent arrangements. This body of research shows that the question remained linked to French expansion, regional political rivalries and disputes that emerged after the two countries gained independence.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Moving from historical analysis to a contemporary legal claim, however, requires additional documentary evidence and legal criteria. Historical or cultural ties do not automatically lead to a change in internationally recognised borders. Likewise, studying boundaries inherited from colonial rule does not turn every political interpretation into an established fact. Sansal\u2019s statements must therefore remain attributed to him and be examined alongside historical archives, treaties and specialised research, rather than treated as substitutes for those sources.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Suing Tebboune: a political announcement is not yet a legal proceeding<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In March 2026, Sansal had already announced his intention to pursue legal action against Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in an interview with French journalist Jean-Jacques Bourdin. He said he did not want to remain silent about what he believed had been done to him and linked his position to statements made by the Algerian president after his arrest.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Part of the dispute concerns remarks attributed to Tebboune about Sansal\u2019s identity, nationality and the circumstances of the case, at a time when the Algerian authorities were prosecuting the writer in a matter presented as involving state security. Sansal believes the president\u2019s position was not unrelated to the process that led to his conviction. That alleged connection, however, is not sufficient by itself to establish the president\u2019s personal legal responsibility for the arrest or the court\u2019s judgment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Announcing an intention to file a complaint does not mean that a complaint has actually been lodged, much less that a court has accepted it or confirmed its jurisdiction. The phrase \u201cinternational justice\u201d also requires clarification. Does it refer to proceedings before an international court, a complaint to a United Nations mechanism, or litigation before a national court exercising a specific form of jurisdiction? Each route has different requirements and procedures; they cannot be treated as a single legal avenue.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The sources verified for this review did not establish the existence of an official document confirming that legal action against Tebboune had been filed or identifying the court that would hear it. What can be established is Sansal\u2019s stated intention to proceed. Whether that announcement has progressed into an actual legal case remains to be demonstrated.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">The German mediation and presidential pardon: release did not close the case<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">On 12 November 2025, Sansal received a presidential pardon from the Algerian authorities following a German request and mediation led by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. French President Emmanuel Macron said that day that German efforts had played a decisive role in securing the writer\u2019s release. He subsequently thanked the Algerian president for the decision.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The pardon ended Sansal\u2019s detention, but it did not settle the dispute over the legal basis of his conviction, the objections concerning defence rights or the responsibility he attributes to Algeria\u2019s leadership. A presidential pardon results in release under the terms of the decision; it is not, in itself, a judicial ruling that overturns the conviction or an official acknowledgment that a rights violation occurred.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">German mediation acquired diplomatic significance because it provided a humanitarian way out of a case that had become one of the points of tension between Algiers and Paris. Yet success in securing the release does not mean that all the questions raised by the case have been resolved, or that the parties reached an agreement about the facts or the allocation of responsibility.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">After leaving prison, Sansal continued to discuss his experience and its consequences, while his case returned to public debate through further media appearances. In March 2026, he also discussed in press interviews his departure from the publishing house Gallimard and his move to Grasset, linking part of his disagreement with his former publisher to his experience of detention.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As for the new book referred to in some reports under the title <em>The Myth<\/em>, the sources available for this review did not provide sufficient independent confirmation of its final contents or a precise publication date. Similarly, detailed positions attributed to Sansal concerning the Palestinian question or his visit to Israel should not be reported without consulting the full interview and verifying his exact words.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">What can be established is that his release did not end his stated intention to seek accountability from the Algerian authorities, and that his remarks about the border remain central to the controversy. Whether his announcement becomes an admissible legal action, and whether new documents emerge to support his allegations concerning the arrest, will depend on the steps actually taken and the evidence presented before the competent authorities.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Between history, law and politics, understanding the case requires a clear distinction between documented facts, allegations and deductions. The history of the border must be examined through its documentary record; responsibility for deprivation of liberty requires evidence and judicial scrutiny; and an announcement of intended legal action does not become a pending case merely because it is made in a media interview.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boualem Sansal Reopens the Moroccan-Algerian Border Question and Announces Plans to Sue Tebboune: From Tlemcen and Maghnia to Accountability for His Arrest The release of writer Boualem Sansal in November 2025 did not bring to an end his confrontation with the Algerian authorities over his statements about the Moroccan-Algerian border. In October 2026, the writer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,43,42,41,76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-africa","category-asia-americas","category-europe-russia","category-middle-east","category-the-maghreb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5068"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5070,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5068\/revisions\/5070"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}