The story began when the Algerian channel One TV broadcast a video report, which included the testimony of a girl named His Excellency ArabanShe said that Dawoud took advantage of her story and her medical condition to write “The Sirens” without her consent, noting that she was receiving treatment from the novelist’s wife.
The matter concerns a woman named Saada Orban, born on December 16, 1993. She is married and settled with her husband and children in the state of Oran, western Algeria.
The girl says: “When I was 6 years old, I lived a tragic night during the dark decade, in which I lost all my family and the most precious thing I had.”
Saada spoke with great difficulty due to her health condition: “I was receiving treatment from Daoud’s wife, a psychiatrist, and she refused to let her husband turn my story into any literary work.”
However, Kamal Daoud’s wife denied the existence of any direct relationship between the story “NymphsAnd the story of Saada, as Daoud confirmed in his statements to the French media that his story is a figment of imagination.
As of writing these lines, Daoud has not issued any direct comment on Saadeh’s accusations, but he sent her a copy of the novel with a special dedication in which he said: “Algeria was saved thanks to women and you are one of them. With all my affection.”
The controversial David
Daoud’s name topped search engines on social media platforms AlgeriaMany influencers shared a story of happiness between a defender and a striker.
Algerian novelist Jalal Haidar said: “My total solidarity is with Saada and her family. I put my name in any statement demanding that Kamal Daoud and his wife be subjected to Algerian justice to decide on this case.”
In a sarcastic manner, the Algerian writer and journalist Najib Belhimer commented: “I stand in solidarity with the French writer Kamal Daoud, who is now being subjected to a hideous campaign to force him to be Algerian, after he sold his humanity in order to get rid of this characteristic.”
The controversy reached Canada, where the Canadian Communist Party commented on the “X” platform, describing the Algerian girl’s statements as “a bomb surrounding a novelist who became famous in France.”
On the other hand, David’s defenders pointed out that “the fierce campaign he is being subjected to is a reflection of the gap in trust between the two shores of the Mediterranean.”
Algerian activist Karim Radwan commented on the controversy, saying: “Why do I like Kamal Daoud? Not because he has a beautiful style. I like him because he hits and is hit, criticizes and is criticized, attacks and is attacked, influences and is affected.”
It is noted that the French press ignored the woman’s statements and accusations directed at Kamal Daoud.
The first Algerian to win the Goncourt
- Daoud (54 years old) is considered the first Algerian novelist to win this prestigious award, which was established in 1903.
- The award was previously won by the Moroccan novelist Tahar Ben Jelloun in 1987, and the Lebanese novelist Amin Maalouf in 1993.
- In the novel “The Nymphs,” published by the French publishing house “Gallimard,” Daoud narrates the human story of a girl named Fajr who falls victim to the terrorism that struck Algeria in the nineties, a period known as the “Black Decade.”
- He congratulated the French President Emmanuel Macron The writer after winning the award, while no Algerian official body, including Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, issued any congratulations in this regard.
The ball is in the court’s goal
Saada is preparing to organize a press conference in Algiers, and it is likely that a double lawsuit will be filed against Daoud in Algeria and France.
Algerian lawyer Abdel Rahman Saleh explains the procedural aspect of the case. He told Sky News Arabia: “The professional ethics law and the penal code oblige everyone to keep clients’ secrets. Jurisdiction belongs to the Algerian judiciary, and there is an opportunity to file the case in France, given the universality of the criminal text.”
The lawyer described the case as weak and would not exceed the limits of form.
He said: “The discretion rests with the judge. Any novelist has the right to be inspired by reality as long as he does not reveal the identity of the character,” stressing that filing a lawsuit in France will not go beyond the formal stage without summoning the accused to appear before the court.
Algerian lawyer Omar Farouk Suleiman also believes that “the case puts the doctor’s wife in front of a problem, because she violated the ethics of the medical profession, while the novelist is in a sound position from a legal standpoint.”
Suleiman said: “The criticisms directed at Kamal Daoud are taken by the French side as political criticisms, which makes the French judiciary look at this case from a political perspective.” He also ruled out that Daoud would be summoned for investigation within the framework of “protection.” Freedom of expression And creativity.”
