"Retailleau from Beauvau to the Élysée": Boualem Sansal lends his support to the LR candidate

Released from Algerian prisons last November after nearly a year of detention, the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal gave strong support to Bruno Retailleau on Saturday during the first presidential meeting of the Les Républicains candidate, organized at the Parc floral de Paris in front of more than 4.000 supporters.

Seated in the front row before taking the podium, the author of *The Legend* praised the former Minister of the Interior's efforts to secure his release. "In the fourth month of my imprisonment, a name entered the prison and became the hero of all Algerian prisons: Bruno Retailleau," he declared, before adding: "Retailleau from the Ministry of the Interior to the Élysée Palace!"

The day before on LCI, Boualem Sansal had already announced that he would "very probably" vote for the LR candidate in 2027. "He is my friend, I like him very much. He has no malice. He has no sense of conspiracy," he affirmed.

Bruno Retailleau, who had advocated a firm stance towards Algiers when he was Minister of the Interior, in turn praised a man who had become "more than a symbol, a legend." This significant endorsement allows the candidate to highlight his position on freedom of expression and Franco-Algerian relations, as the presidential campaign begins to gain momentum.