He is a football enthusiast. All his articles and collaborations for more than twelve years bear witness to this. It is this passion that led him to Algeria in May 2024. Christophe Gleizes, independent French sports journalist, Magazines collaborator So Foot et Society, football specialist, for more than a year in Algeria with a ban on leaving the country, has just been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment with a warrant for deposit for “Apology of terrorism” et “Possession of publications for the purpose of propaganda harming the national interest”. A call will be brought up tomorrow, Monday, June 30.
“We are in shock. Nothing justifies that Christophe has to endure this test. How, indeed, justify that a journalist who honestly exercises his job is thus punished? Does her passion for the life of African footballers who speak in all his writings deserve such treatment? His family, who knows his integrity and professional honesty so well, urges Algerian justice to review this judgment which makes a journalist a criminal. »» Christophe Gleizes’ family
« Christophe Gleizes had lived an absurd judicial control for over a year. His conviction to 7 years in prison has no meaning and demonstrates only one fact: nothing escapes politics today, and Algerian justice has missed an important opportunity to go out from above this case. We call the highest Algerian authorities to the immediate and unconditional release of Christophe Gleizes and the French authorities to seek a diplomatic and consular solution as soon as possible. » Thibaut Bruttin, CEO RSF
“Christophe Gleizes is a journalist recognized to always work without a political ulterior motive, his investigations and interviews prove it. Christophe’s work cannot be called into question. This decision is completely unfair. It is important that everything is done, including politically and diplomatically so that justice prevails and that Christophe can find his loved ones and his drafting. »» Franck Anneese, Fondért De l’Press
Independent French journalist, magazine collaborator So Foot et Society, Christophe Gleizes went to Algeria in May 2024 to report on the hours of glory, in the 1980s, of the local club, the sports youth of Kabylia (JSK). In this regard, he wanted to cover the commemorations of the death of Cameroonian footballer Albert Ebossé, who died ten years earlier. He was also sent by So Foot To interview the coach of the Mouloudia Club of Algiers Patrice Beaumelle and make a portrait of the footballer Salah Djebaïli.
Author, with his colleague Barthélémy Gaillard, from the book Magic system, modern slavery of African footballerspublished in 2018, Christophe Gleizes is particularly interested in the life of the players.
Under judicial supervision for more than a year in Algeria
Christophe Gleizes was arrested on May 28 in Tizi Ouzou, a hundred kilometers east of the capital. He was immediately referred before the public prosecutor and placed under judicial supervision with a ban on leaving the Algerian national territory. The information professional, who celebrated his 36th birthday in Algiers in early February, risked up to ten years in prison for having entered the country with a tourist visa, for “Apology of terrorism” et “Possession of publications for the purpose of propaganda harming the national interest”.
The latter accusations, without foundation and completely refuted, are due to the fact that the journalist had had contacts, in 2015 and 2017, with the head of the Tizi Ouzou football club, also responsible for the Kabylia’s self -determination movement (MAK), classified terrorist organization by the Algerian authorities in 2021. However, the first two exchanges with Christophe Gleizes took place well before this categorization Algerian authorities. The only exchange that occurred in 2024 aimed at the preparation of its report on the football club, the JSK, which Christophe Gleizes has never hidden and what the elements of the investigation taken in the referral order taken by the accusation chamber on December 9, 2024.
Article initially published on the RSF website.
PSG humiliates Inter Miami and hoists in the quarterfinals
