A YEAR UNDER JUDICIAL SUPERVISION
Gleizes had already spent 13 months under judicial supervision and a travel ban following his arrest on 28 May 2024 in Tizi Ouzou, about 100 kilometres east of Algiers, after interviewing Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JSK) football club personnel linked to “Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie,” a banned separatist movement that was declared a “terrorist movement” in 2021.
ARREST & CHARGES
Gleizes travelled to Algeria in May 2024 to report on the glory days of the local club Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JSK) during the 1980s, and to cover the tenth-anniversary commemorations of Cameroonian footballer Albert Ebossé’s death.
He was also commissioned by So Foot to interview Mouloudia Club d’Alger coach Patrice Beaumelle and profile player Salah Djebaïli.
He was arrested on a tourist visa, briefly appeared before the public prosecutor, and was placed under judicial control with a prohibition on leaving the country. An appeal was lodged on Monday, 30 June.
Prosecutors based their case on Gleizes’ interviews with the JSK club president in 2015 and 2017, who is also a leader of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), declared a terrorist organisation by Algerian authorities in 2021. His only 2024 interaction concerned placing coverage of JSK, a fact noted in the accusation order dated 9 December 2024.
ABOUT GLEIZES
Christophe Gleizes has reported extensively on African football. He contributes regularly to So Foot and Society and co-authored the 2018 investigative book “Magique système: The modern slavery of African footballers” with Barthélémy Gaillard, exposing the recruitment networks funnelling young talent to Europe.
Sara Qudah, regional director for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), condemned the verdict:
“Sentencing French journalist Christophe Gleizes to seven years in prison on terrorism charges over an interview is a clear indication of the government’s intolerance of press freedom.”
Events unfolded
These unfounded accusations stem from contacts he had in 2015 and 2017 with the head of the Tizi Ouzou football club, who is also a leader of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), announced as a terrorist organisation by Algerian authorities in 2021.
However, Gleizes’ first two exchanges occurred long before that announcement, and the only 2024 contact concerned preparation for his JSK report, a fact that Christophe Gleizes has never hidden, as the investigation file cited in the indictment order of 9 December 2024 confirms.
“We are shocked. Nothing justifies subjecting Christophe to this ordeal. How can an honest journalist simply doing his job be punished this way? Does his passion for the lives of African footballers, expressed in all his writing, merit such treatment? His family, who know his integrity and professional honesty well, urgently calls on the Algerian judiciary to reconsider this verdict that turns a journalist into a criminal.”
–Family of Christophe Gleizes’s stated.
Petition for release
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières) has launched a petition demanding Gleizes’ immediate and unconditional release, calling the sentence “absurd” and urging Algerian authorities to drop all charges on rsf.org.
Le Monde reported that Gleizes’ family described themselves as “shocked” and “devastated,” highlighting the personal toll of this case..
“Christophe Gleizes has endured an absurd judicial supervision for over a year. His seven-year sentence makes no sense and proves only one thing: nothing escapes politics today, and the Algerian judiciary missed a vital opportunity to handle this affair honorably. We call on Algeria’s highest authorities to release Christophe Gleizes immediately and unconditionally, and on the French authorities to secure a diplomatic and consular solution as swiftly as possible.”
–Thibaut Bruttin, Secretary-General, Reporters Sans Frontières“Christophe Gleizes is known for always working without political agenda, his investigations and interviews speak for themselves. His work cannot be discredited. This decision is utterly unjust. Every measure, including political and diplomatic channels, must be deployed to ensure justice prevails and that Christophe can reunite with his family and his newsroom.”
–Franck Annese, Founder, So Foot Press
Demanding immediate release
In a joint statement, the International Sports Press Association (AIPS), the French Sports Journalists Union (Union des Journalistes de Sports en France – UJSF), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and the So Press group called for Gleizes’ immediate release, imprisoned while simply doing his job, and pledged to monitor his appeal closely.
Credit: AIPS
