Algerian court sentences writer Sansal to five years in jail

An Algerian court on Thursday sentenced French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, whose case has been at the heart of a diplomatic storm, to five years behind bars. The author is known for his criticism of Algerian authorities as well as of Islamists. He was arrested in November and stood trial for undermining Algeria’s territorial integrity, after saying in an interview with a far-right French media outlet that France unfairly ceded Moroccan territory to Algeria during the colonial era.