Algeria sentences French sports journalist to seven years behind bars
Algerian authorities have sentenced a prominent French sports journalist to seven years in prison for "glorifying terrorism", media rights campaigners RSF have said, denouncing the verdict as "nonsensical". Christophe Gleizes, who contributes to the So Foot magazine, will file an appeal on Monday.
Gleizes, 36, was ordered by the court in Tizi Ouzou, northern Algeria, to be immediately incarcerated, RSF said Sunday.
"He has now been unjustly convicted and imprisoned for simply doing his job," it said.
France's AFP news agency reported that Gleizes had been taken to Tizo Ouzou prison straight after his conviction. After filing his appeal, the case would be heard in October at the earliest.
Gleizes, who has co-authored a book about football in Africa, travelled to Algeria in May 2024 to write about the local Tizi Ouzou football club Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JSK) – named after Algeria's Kabylie region, home to the Berber Kabyle people.
He was arrested on 28 May and placed under judicial control and prevented from leaving the country, RSF said.
He was charged with "glorifying terrorism" and "possessing publications for propaganda purposes harmful to national interests".
"Christophe Gleizes has been subjected to an absurd judicial control order for over a year," said Thibaut Bruttin, RSF's director general.
Read more on RFI EnglishRead also:French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal sentenced to five years in prisonFrance to expel Algerian diplomats after embassy staff sent home from AlgiersMacron shifts to quiet diplomacy in bid to resolve Algeria crisis
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