Editorial: Liberation

• The Algerian regime seized the first opportunity to retaliate against France for its change of position on the sensitive issue of Western Sahara and its rapprochement with the Moroccan enemy.
• The figure used is a 75-year-old Franco-Algerian writer, detained on charges of 'undermining state security'.
• Boualem Sansal, the writer in question, is known for his critiques of the Algerian regime but does not realistically pose a threat to security.
• Sansal has held a very influential presence in French and Algerian literary circles.
• The regime controls the wealth of the country and uses authoritarian tactics to quell critiques.

Conclusion: The writer's detention signals the regime's weakness, resorting to extreme tactics to suppress critique and dissent.

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