An Algerian court is expected to deliver a verdict Tuesday on prosecutors' bid to double the jail term of a dual-national author whose conviction has strained ties with France. On March 27, a court in Dar El Beida sentenced him to a five-year prison term and fined him 500,

An Algerian court on Tuesday upheld a five-year prison sentence against dual-national author Boualem Sansal, whose case has strained ties with France.Sansal, 80, was first sentenced to five years behind bars on March 27 on charges related to undermining Algeria's territorial integrity over comments made to a French media outlet.

Franco-Algerian author Boualem Sansal is facing five years in prison in Algeria after he lost an appeal against his conviction for “undermining national unity.”