A court in Tizi Ouzou, in eastern Algeria, on Wednesday announced a ten-year sentence in the appeal trial of French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes, accused among other things of “glorifying terrorism”. Arrested in May 2024, he has been detained since his trial in June, when he was originally sentenced to seven years in prison.
Christophe Gleizes, 36, a contributor to the French magazines So Foot and Society, imprisoned in Algeria since the end of June, had previously asked the court for leniency, stating that he should have applied for a journalist visa instead of a tourist visa to come and report.
Called to the stand at his appeal trial on Wednesday morning, 36-year-old Gleizes asked for leniency, acknowledging that he had made “many journalistic errors despite [his] good intentions.”
A contributor to the French magazines So Foot and Society, Gleizes also admitted that he should have been aware that some of his contacts were linked to an organization classified as terrorist in Algeria.
“I beg your mercy so that I can be reunited with my family,” he said in an emotional testimony.
“The accused did not come to Algeria to do journalistic work but to commit a hostile act,” said the prosecutor, who also requested a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars (approximately €3,300).
According to RSF, the initial exchanges between the two men “took place well before this categorisation by the Algerian authorities” and “the only exchange that occurred in 2024 concerned the preparation of his report” on JSK, “something Christophe Gleizes has never hidden.”
Gleizes “has no business being in prison; his only crime is having done his job as a sports journalist and loving Algerian football,” Thibaut Bruttin, director general of RSF told the press in October.
During the initial trial in June, Gleizes’ French lawyer, Emmanuel Daoud said that there had been “a complete misunderstanding of the journalistic profession,” by Algerian authorities.
“We had to explained to the judges that a journalist does not engage in politics,” that he “is not an ideologue,” “not an activist,” Daoud told France Inter radio.
The lawyer insisted however on his respect for the “independent and sovereign” Algerian justice system and refuted accusations circulating in France that the journalist was “being held hostage”.
He stressed that Gleizes had been able to receive visitors, had access to his criminal file, and consulted with his lawyers.
The French government on Wednesday criticized the decision by an Algerian court to uphold a seven-year jail sentence for French journalist Christophe Gleizes despite its efforts to convince Algerian authorities to change the verdict.
“It regrets that its full cooperation with the Algerian authorities and the explanations provided by his defence team were not enough to change the verdict. We call for his release and hope for a favorable outcome so that he can quickly be reunited with his family,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.