French journalist Christophe Gleizes sentenced to seven years in Algeria

TIZI OUZOU, Algeria (MNTV) — French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes has been sentenced to seven years in prison by an Algerian court on charges of “glorifying terrorism” and possessing materials deemed harmful to national interests, according to Reporters Without Borders.

The 36-year-old journalist, a contributor to French magazine So Foot, was convicted by a court in Tizi Ouzou and immediately transferred to prison. Gleizes plans to appeal the verdict, with a hearing expected no earlier than October.

Gleizes had traveled to Algeria in May 2024 to report on Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JSK), a local football club based in the Kabylie region, home to Algeria’s Berber population.

He was arrested on May 28 and placed under judicial control, barred from leaving the country.

The charges relate to alleged contacts in 2015 and 2017 with a figure linked to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), which was designated a terrorist group by Algerian authorities in 2021.

RSF noted that these contacts occurred well before that classification and said Gleizes had disclosed contacting the same individual again in 2024 for his reporting.

“This conviction is absurd and shows that politics is interfering with journalism,” said Thibaut Bruttin, RSF’s director general.

So Foot also criticized the sentence, stating Gleizes had been “imprisoned for doing his job.”

The case comes amid worsening Franco-Algerian relations, with tensions further inflamed after France backed Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in 2024, a move strongly opposed by Algiers.