The prosecution of Boualem Sansal, who is about 80 years old, has provoked outrage in the world literary community and calls for France to free him.
An Algerian French writer whose arrest in Algeria on charges of undermining national unity and security has heightened tensions with France was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday.
Writer Boualem Sansal, who was born in Algeria and became a French citizen last year, was arrested in November over statements he made to French media in which he supported Morocco in a territorial dispute with Algeria.
His detention has sparked outrage from other writers around the world, and his conviction comes after months of calls for his release from French President Emmanuel Macron. France was once Algeria's colonial ruler.
Mr Sansal was tried and sentenced without access to legal advice, according to his French lawyer, François Zimere.
“A brutal arrest, 20 minutes of hearing, a barred defense, and ultimately five years in prison for an innocent writer,” Mr. Zimeray said in a statement. The verdict, he said, “betrays the very meaning of the word justice.”
Mr. Sansal, who has been diagnosed with cancer and is believed to be in his 80s, is being held in Kolea prison, outside the capital Algiers, Mr. Zimeray said.
