Boualem Sansal: Jack Lang will read texts by the writer at the Avignon festival to call for his release

As the Avignon Festival begins this Saturday, July 5, Jack Lang has announced that he will pay tribute to the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal at the 2025 edition.

The former Minister of Culture and President of the Arab World Institute will read, alongside Laure Adler, texts by the author, who has been imprisoned for more than seven months in Algeria and sentenced to five years in prison for "undermining national unity." The event is scheduled for July 9.

"I belong to a generation that fought for the freedom of Algeria and of Algerian intellectuals mistreated by colonialism: may Algeria now give freedom to one of its sons. At the Avignon Festival, I will read texts by Boualem Sansal, with a single message: Freedom for Boualem Sansal. Freedom for Christophe Gleizes," Jack Lang declared on X.

The 80-year-old author is "imprisoned for his ideas," which is "unacceptable," festival director Tiago Rodrigues commented on France Culture .

Imprisoned for more than seven months, Boualem Sansal was sentenced on March 27 to five years in prison by the Dar El Beida court, near Algiers, for "undermining national unity." The decision was upheld by the Algiers Court of Appeal on July 1.

Among the facts that the Algerian justice system is accusing the novelist of are statements made in October 2024 to the French far-right media outlet Frontières, in which the writer stated that, under French colonization, Algeria had inherited territories that had previously belonged to Morocco.

The 80-year-old writer, who according to his relatives has prostate cancer, has been the subject of a bitter diplomatic struggle between Algeria and France since his arrest in Algiers on November 16.

This affair has exacerbated a falling-out between Paris and Algiers, triggered in July 2024 by France's recognition of an autonomy plan "under Moroccan sovereignty" for Western Sahara, a territory that Morocco and the Polisario separatists, supported by Algiers, have been fighting over for 50 years.

On July 1, French Prime Minister François Bayrou said he hoped for "pardons" from Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune following the conviction of Boualem Sansal.

"The situation Boualem Sansal is experiencing is one that all French people and the French government rightly find unbearable. Now that there has been a conviction, we can imagine that clemency measures, particularly based on our compatriot's health, will be taken," declared the French head of government.

"I know that all executive bodies, from the President of the Republic to the government, are acting in this way so that humanity triumphs," added François Bayrou.

Following English in 2023 and Spanish in 2024, the Arabic language and culture will be in the spotlight at the 79th edition of the Avignon Festival this year. As part of this, some fifteen artists, primarily choreographers and musicians, will enrich an edition that places a strong emphasis on dance.

In addition to the tribute to Boualem Sansal, other highlights related to current events are expected during the festival, such as a night of readings of excerpts from the Mazan rape trial, committed against Gisèle Pelicot , who was drugged for years by her husband who handed her over to strangers. This creation by Milo Rau should have a particular resonance, as this internationally acclaimed trial was held in Avignon between September and December 2024.

As theater in France faces a difficult time due to multiple budget cuts in the cultural sector, the CGT (Union for the Performing Arts) union, the leading union in the sector, which has been demanding the "resignation" of Culture Minister Rachida Dati since the end of June, has also called for "a refusal to perform if the minister or another member of the Bayrou government appears." A preventive strike notice has been filed.

The minister, who was traveling to Aix-en-Provence and Arles on Sunday, has not yet announced her visit to Avignon. Her "travel schedule is currently being finalized," the ministry told AFP.

The CGT and seven other performing arts organizations are also calling for a rally in front of the town hall on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. to "raise the alarm" against these budget cuts.