Conviction of Kamel Daoud in Algeria: the French Minister of Culture recalls his “unwavering attachment to freedom of creation”

The French Minister of Culture Catherine Pgard recalled her “unwavering attachment to freedom of creation” and “the need to defend artists in their dignity and their security”, in a statement sent to AFP on Thursday, the day after the announcement of the conviction of the writer Kamel Daoud in Algeria.

The Franco-Algerian novelist, who lives in France, announced on Wednesday that he had been sentenced to three years in prison by the Oran court for having addressed the Algerian civil war in his novel “Houris”, which won the Goncourt Prize in 2024.

In her declaration, Catherine Pgard “recalls her unwavering attachment to creative freedom, which is often experienced in the areas of tension that it reveals”.

She also underlines “the need to defend artists in their dignity and security, literature remaining a living space of creation”.

The author announced Wednesday on the social network

“A ban on returning to Algeria”

“The court formalized a ban on returning to Algeria,” added the novelist, who lives in France after leaving Algeria where he was a journalist for a long time.

A conviction criticized this Thursday by Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, on France Info: “He is a great writer, I deplore that he could be condemned for having written a book. He is resident in France, he has no reason to be worried.”

This conviction comes as Franco-Algerian relations have recently improved somewhat after a period of high tensions linked in particular to the one-year incarceration of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal. He was pardoned by the Algerian president in November 2025.

French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes is still detained in Algeria, after the confirmation at the end of 2025 of his conviction on appeal to 7 years in prison for “apology of terrorism”. His supporters denounce a political condemnation.