Algerian-French writer Kamel Daoud announced on Wednesday that he has been sentenced to three years in prison for addressing the Algerian civil war in his novel "Houris," which won the prestigious Goncourt Prize in 2024.

"I have been sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of five million Algerian dinars (approximately €32,000), under the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation," the author stated in a message posted on the social media platform X.

Daoud informed AFP that he was notified of the verdict, which was issued late Tuesday by the Oran court and is accompanied by an arrest warrant.

Algerian media did not report on the ruling on Wednesday.

"The court has formalized a ban on my return to Algeria," said the novelist, who lives in France after leaving Algeria, where he worked as a journalist for many years.

This conviction comes as Franco-Algerian relations had recently shown slight improvement following a period of heightened tensions, partly due to the one-year imprisonment of fellow Algerian-French writer Boualem Sansal.

Sansal reacted by stating that Daoud's sentencing was "not a judicial accident." "It is a method of governing through fear. The authorities want the submission of the people and the silence of writers," he added.

"Only One Culprit: A Writer"

The court ruled without Daoud being represented by a lawyer, following a complaint filed by the National Organization of Victims of Terrorism in Algeria. A law prohibits public discussion of the "Black Decade"—the civil war period from 1992 to 2002.

According to the author, this is the first time the law has been applied to a work of fiction.

"Ten years of war, nearly 200,000 dead by some estimates, thousands of terrorists amnestied… and only one culprit: a writer," Daoud emphasized.

"It's sad for Algeria because the civil war needs to be told. We cannot move forward by denying what happened," he further told AFP.

"Houris," translated into 32 languages, has not been published in Algeria, but "it has been widely pirated and read there," he noted.

Kamel Daoud, 55, is the author of several novels, including "The Meursault Investigation."

AFP