Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the court of Tizi Ouzou’s decision to sentence French football journalist Christophe Gleizes to seven years in prison with immediate incarceration. Arrested and held under a judicial control order since 28 May 2024, he has now been unjustly convicted and imprisoned for simply doing his job. He will appeal the decision tomorrow.
A passionate football enthusiast, Christophe Gleizes has shown his dedication to sports journalism through more than twelve years of articles and professional collaborations. It was this passion that brought him to Algeria in May 2024. Christophe Gleizes, an independent French sports journalist and contributor to the magazines So Foot and Society, has been detained in Algeria for over a year under a travel ban, and has now been sentenced to a custodial determinate sentence of seven years in prison with immediate incarceration for “glorifying terrorism” and “possessing publications for propaganda purposes harmful to national interests.” He will lodge an appeal as of tomorrow.
As an independent French journalist and contributor to So Foot and Society, Gleizes travelled to Algeria in May 2024 to report on the golden era of the local football club, Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JSK), during the 1980s. He also intended to cover commemorations marking the death of Cameroonian footballer Albert Ebossé, who died ten years earlier. Additionally, he was commissioned by So Foot to interview Mouloudia Club of Algiers coach Patrice Beaumelle, and to write a profile on footballer Salah Djebaïli.
“We are in shock. There is no justification for Christophe having to endure this ordeal. How can one justify punishing a journalist for practising his profession with integrity? His passion for telling the stories of African footballers, evident in all his writing, surely does not warrant such treatment. His family, who know his integrity and professional honesty so well, urgently appeals to the Algerian judiciary to overturn this judgement that wrongfully treats a journalist as a criminal.”
— The family of Christophe Gleizes
“Christophe Gleizes has been subjected to an absurd judicial control order for over a year. His seven-year sentence is nonsensical and demonstrates one thing: today, nothing escapes politics, and the Algerian justice system has missed a crucial opportunity to resolve this matter honourably. We call on the highest Algerian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Christophe Gleizes, and on the French authorities to urgently pursue a diplomatic and consular resolution.“
— Thibaut Bruttin, RSF Director General
“Christophe Gleizes is a journalist known for his apolitical approach; his investigations and interviews are proof of that. His work cannot be disputed. This decision is utterly unjust. It is essential that everything — politically and diplomatically — is done to ensure that justice prevails and that Christophe can be reunited with his family and his editorial team.”
— Franck Annese, Founder of So Press
Co-author of the book Magique Système: L’Esclavage Moderne des Footballeurs Africains (Magical System: The Modern Slavery of African Footballers), which was written with Barthélémy Gaillard and published in 2018, Christophe Gleizes is a devoted football enthusiast with a particular interest in the lives of athletes.
Christophe Gleizes was arrested on 28 May 2024 in Tizi Ouzou, approximately 100 kilometres east of the capital. He was immediately brought before the public prosecutor and placed under a judicial control order, with a ban on leaving Algerian territory. The journalist, who celebrated his 36th birthday in Algiers in early February, faced up to ten years in prison for entering the country on a tourist visa, and for “glorifying terrorism” and “possessing publications for propaganda purposes harmful to national interests.”
Over a year under a judicial control order in Algeria
These charges, unfounded and categorically denied, stem from the fact that the journalist had made contact with the head of the Tizi Ouzou football club in 2015 and 2017, who also happens to be a leading figure in the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), which was designated a terrorist organisation by the Algerian authorities in 2021. However, the first two interactions between Christophe Gleizes and this individual occurred well before this designation. The only exchange that occurred in 2024 concerned preparations for his report on the football club JSK, something Gleizes has never concealed and which is supported by the investigation findings cited in the order issued by the indictment chamber on 9 December 2024.
An appeal will be lodged tomorrow.
