French journalist Christophe Gleizes remains in prison in Algeria, awaiting appeal
The journalist's family rejects the terrorism charges and blames his situation on the deterioration of relations between France and Algeria
Political tensions between France and Algeria manifest themselves in different ways. One example was the case of French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who was sentenced to five years in prison. Added to this was the arrest last June of French freelance sports journalist Christophe Gleizes, who was accused in Algeria of ‘apologising for terrorism’ and ‘possession of propaganda harmful to the national interest’ and sentenced to seven years in prison.
Gleizes is currently in prison, awaiting his appeal trial, which is scheduled for next autumn. The contributor to So Foot and Society magazine was arrested in May 2024 while in Kabylie, where he was investigating the JS Kabylie club. After 13 months under judicial supervision, he was tried and sentenced to five years in prison.
During his stay in Algeria, the journalist had spoken to various local figures and to a leader of the Tizi-Ouzou club who is also affiliated with the Kabilie Independence Movement, a group considered terrorist by the Algerian regime since 2021.
At the time, his friends and family had remained silent, but after his conviction last June, they began to publicly denounce his situation as a collateral victim of Franco-Algerian tensions.
His brother, Maxime Gleizes, told the press that "we could never have imagined, even for a second, that he would serve time in prison, not even for a month. Seven years in prison is unimaginable for us.‘
The director general of Reporters Without Borders, Thibaut Bruttin, denounced the punishment: ’This seven-year prison sentence is absurd and unprecedented. It is an affront to the journalistic profession and shows the extent to which everything is political in Algeria. We must now find a diplomatic or consular solution to free Christophe. He has no reason to be in prison; there is no evidence of anything that could justify it."
His mother and stepfather have visited him in Tizi Ouzou prison twice since he was sentenced, on 12 and 21 August. The journalist reassured his family that he has a good relationship with the prison authorities, but warned them that he feels ‘completely cut off from the world’.
His mother, Sylvie Godard, said that her son is in good physical condition, although she was surprised to see him with his head shaved. His stepfather, Francis Godard, described the accusations as ‘totally absurd’ and explained that ‘we cannot interpret the improbable exaggeration of these accusations in any other way if we do not understand that he is a kind of collateral victim of the current bad relations between France and Algeria’.
Although they believe that Gleizes' case is completely different from that of Boualem Sansal, they do consider that their son is currently imprisoned for political reasons ‘with which Christophe has nothing to do’, and they fear the impact of the deterioration in Franco-Algerian relations.
For its part, the National Union of France expressed its full support for Gleizes and his family, demanding his immediate release and condemning the attack on press freedom.
According to Al Arab, activists and experts find similarities with the case of Boualem Sansal due to the use of the judiciary during political conflicts. So far, more than 100 public figures, including footballers, coaches, journalists, writers, singers and actors, have shown their support for the French journalist.