France is ramping up diplomatic efforts to secure the release of Christophe Gleizes, the French sports journalist handed a seven-year prison sentence in Algeria, with President Emmanuel Macron insisting he wants to see him home “as soon as possible”. Gleizes’s parents told RFI they hope to meet Macron as soon as possible to push for their son's freedom.
The Elysée Palace said Thursday that Macron was “deeply concerned” by the verdict and would continue engaging with Algiers to secure the journalist’s return to France.
It follows the decision by an Algerian appeals court, a day earlier, to uphold his conviction for “glorifying terrorism” and “possessing publications for propaganda purposes harmful to national interests”.
Gleizes, 36, a freelancer for So Foot and Society, is France’s only journalist imprisoned abroad, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
His detention comes at a tense period in relations between France and Algeria. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has called the journalist’s freedom “a major element” in ongoing discussions between the two countries.
“We will do everything in our power to secure the release” of Gleizes, the minister told broadcaster France 2. “Discussions are ongoing, and we will continue them with the Algerian side.”
Algerian court upholds sentence for French journalist convicted of 'terrorism'
'Still in shock'
Gleizes was arrested in May 2024 while reporting in Tizi Ouzou, the heart of the Kabylie region and home to JS Kabylie, Algeria’s most decorated football club.
Algerian authorities accuse him of having contact with figures linked to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), which they labelled a terrorist organisation in 2021.
He has been detained since his trial in June.
His mother Sylvie Godard and stepfather Francis Godard told RFI on Thursday that the decision to uphold the sentence had blindsided them.
“We are still in shock over this verdict,” said Sylvie. “We thought he would get a suspended sentence, maybe a prison sentence, but definitely not another seven-year prison sentence.”
Inside a 'violent' hearing
Francis Godard said the hearing itself was exceptionally charged, with prosecutors' arguments tipping into invective. He told RFI: “The verdict is harsh and it must be said that the hearing was also violent.”
He added that the presiding judge repeatedly tried to portray Christophe as an accomplice in a criminal operation.
According to his mother, Gleizes appeared stunned but stoic when the verdict was announced. “His face was pale,” she said.
The family attempted to speak to him briefly before he was taken back to prison, but Sylvie recounted: “There wasn’t much humanity... They forbade us from seeing him.”
Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal calls for 'reconciliation' between France, Algeria
Release campaign
Gleizes now has one week to decide whether to appeal to Algeria’s highest court.
“We are regaining our fighting spirit and we are going to regain our energy so that we can get him out of there as quickly as possible,” his mother told RFI.
She added that the family is hoping for direct engagement with the French president. “We really hope to meet with [Macron] in the next few days and discuss with him the possible courses of action and strategies to be implemented.”
Gleizes also has the backing of press freedom groups including RSF, which denounced his sentence as “outrageous”.
The case has injected fresh strain into relations between Paris and Algiers, already complicated by disagreements over Western Sahara and the expulsion of diplomats last year.
French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal was arrested in Algiers and sentenced in March to five years in prison for making comments about Western Sahara that Algerian authorities said undermined the country's territorial integrity.
He was freed last month after intense negotiations with Algeria by France and Germany.
(with AFP)
