Kristenn Einarsson, Chair of the IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee said: We welcome the release of Boualem Sansal and commend all those who have worked and campaigned for his release. Sansal should never have been imprisoned for using his freedom of speech. His release shows that political will and strong advocacy make a difference and gives us hope for those other authors and publishers who languish in prison around the world.
IPA members also reacted to Sansal’s release:
Sebastian Guggolz, Chairman of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association said: It is almost unimaginable what hardships someone has to endure when they are unjustly imprisoned and convicted. That is why we have repeatedly drawn attention to his plight and demanded his release since his arrest. We are very grateful to the thousands of supporters, especially German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and French President Macron for his mediation. We are very happy that Boualem Sansal can now receive medical treatment here in Germany in safety and freedom. And we thank the Algerian President for making this possible. Nevertheless, there are numerous other prisoners in Algeria who have been sentenced to long prison terms on equally flimsy grounds. They must not be forgotten.
Innocenzo Cipolletta, president of the Italian Publishers Association said: No writer in any country in the world should be imprisoned for his ideas. The granting of a pardon to the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal and the announcement of his transfer to Germany for treatment is news that fills us with joy: a man who is innocent and who today, as far as we know, is very ill, is being released. No writer, publisher, or thinker should suffer what Sansal suffered, in any country in the world: an arrest, a trial, and imprisonment because of the ideas he expressed, the books he published.