Two recent judicial convictions in Algeria have raised serious concerns about the deterioration of the enabling environment for civil society. On 1 July 2025, renowned Algerian writer, Boualem Sansal was sentenced on appeal to five years in prison for “undermining national unity”. The charge was based on Sansal’s remarks to a French media Frontières, where he claimed Algeria inherited a territory formerly belonging to Morocco under colonial rule. Just days earlier, on 29 June 2025, French journalist Christophe Gleizes, a contributor to So Foot, was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges including “glorifying terrorism” and possessing materials deemed harmful to national interest.
These convictions appear to be politically motivated rather than grounded in legitimate legal reasoning. They reflect a broader pattern of repression in the aftermath of the dismantling of the Hirak movement, where freedom of expression and association are increasingly curtailed. Civil society actors, intellectuals, and journalists now face heightened risk of criminal prosecution under vague and arbitrarily applied laws, contributing to a climate of fear and self-censorship.