Credits: Gfra54 (Wikimedia Commons, personal work) / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0.
On December 3, 2025, in Tizi Ouzou, the appeals court in Algeria upheld the seven-year sentence handed to Christophe Gleizes, 36, a French journalist for So Press, for “praise of terrorism” and “possession of publications”; charges he disputes. Authorities cite his alleged contacts with the MAK and a tourist visa. His family, RSF and the Élysée demand his release, weighing cassation and a possible presidential pardon. The decision confirms seven years in prison in Algeria for journalist Christophe Gleizes.
In Tizi Ouzou, A Verdict Upheld On Appeal
The bang of a ruling echoed late afternoon on December 3, 2025. In Tizi Ouzou, the appeals court “confirmed the judgment rendered at first instance” and maintained 7 years of imprisonment against Christophe Gleizes, the convicted journalist, 36, who works with So Press. In the courtroom, shock froze the benches. The family collapsed. The prosecution had sought 10 years and a heavy fine. The court upheld the same charges as the June first-instance ruling: praise of terrorism and possession of publications deemed harmful to “national interest.” Lawyer Emmanuel Daoud denounced a verdict he called “shocking” and without probative basis. After the hearing, one certainty emerged: only Abdelmadjid Tebboune, President of the Algerian Republic, can now unlock the bars with a pardon.
Tight Timeline Of A Broken Trip
The story begins in May 2024. Christophe Gleizes, a French sports journalist who contributes to So Press, arrived in Kabylie, a mountainous region east of Algiers, to investigate Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie, the legendary Algerian football club. He traveled, interviewed, took notes. On May 28, 2024, he was arrested in Tizi Ouzou and placed under judicial supervision in a hotel. A ban on leaving the country sealed an interminable wait. On June 29, 2025, at first instance, the sentence fell: 7 years for praise of terrorism. Detention followed. The appeal opened more than a year after the arrest. On December 3, 2025, requisitions, pleadings, sharp questions, then deliberation. The same day, the sentence was confirmed. On December 4, 2025, France reacted. The Élysée expressed “deep concern” and promised to “act” for his release. The family mobilized. Maxime Gleizes, the younger brother, called for a presidential pardon. Novelist Boualem Sansal, just pardoned after a long detention, said he “firmly” believes in a similar outcome for the journalist.
The Charges And The Defense Line
Algerian authorities argue that Christophe Gleizes made statements amounting to praise of terrorism and possessed publications aimed at propaganda harming the State. They mention, according to the Algerian prosecution, contacts with people linked to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia. Furthermore, Algiers has designated this movement as a terrorist organization since 2021. They also note that he entered on a tourist visa rather than a press visa. At the stand, the journalist admitted to “mistakes” and asked for forgiveness, saying he “never intended to harm.” He recalled that he should have applied for a visa suited to his work. The defense argues that no material evidence supports the praise charge. The computer forensic exam produced “nothing,” according to Emmanuel Daoud. The defended thesis is simple and persistent: routine journalistic activities are being treated as hostile. However, interviews and documentation fall within journalistic inquiry.
Kabylie: Current Events And The MAK Lens
The case can only be understood by placing the facts in the long history of Kabylie. The region has built a strong identity expressed in language, cultural life, and associative networks. It has also experienced tense episodes with the central government. The MAK, described by its leaders as a political movement, has been classified as a terrorist organization by the Algerian state since May 2021. Its leader’s name returned to the hearing, a sign that the Gleizes affair fits into this heightened prism of suspicion. In this context, the line blurs between intelligence, administrative police and criminal justice. The journalist is said to have met in Paris in October 2021 with this leader. The court asked if he knew the organization was classified as terrorist. He replied he did not know and said he was ashamed. That scene sketched the fragile line between professional curiosity and state mistrust. To understand this topography, one must keep in mind the region’s mountainous geography. Also essential is its inhabitants’ deep attachment to freedom of expression. Nothing there is simple. The terrain makes nuance indispensable.
A Case Caught In Diplomatic Turmoil
Relations between Paris and Algiers have followed a rocky path for years. Ambassador recalls, memory tensions, disagreements over visas and travel. In this unstable climate, each individual case can take on outsized symbolic weight. Christophe Gleizes’s case has become a marker. Emmanuel Macron signaled France’s concern and promised to “continue to act.” In Tizi Ouzou, the message reached the public benches. In the corridors, words like “honor” and “sovereignty” passed through conversations. Among supporters, Reporters Without Borders publishes the World Press Freedom Index and has stepped up its statements. So Press emphasizes that its contributor is the only French journalist detained abroad. This singularity intensifies the case and brings consular protection to the forefront. Diplomacy will have to deal with a judiciary that Algiers proclaims independent. It will also face pressure from a French public attentive to a reporter’s fate.
Cassation Or Pardon, Narrow Paths Out
Algerian law offers two routes. The first is cassation. It allows challenging the ruling on legal grounds and not to reexamine the facts. This appeal concerns the application of the law and does not suspend enforcement of the sentence. However, a different decision can be made. The deadline is short, about one week after the decision. The second is political. The presidential pardon, a prerogative of Abdelmadjid Tebboune, can be granted at any time. Supporters hesitate. Should judicial avenues be exhausted first or should the strategy focus primarily on clemency from the head of state? Maxime Gleizes publicly advocates for the pardon. Boualem Sansal confirms his belief that it will come. In both cases, timing escapes the family. It also escapes the newsroom waiting for its colleague. The wait is long in the shadow of Tizi Ouzou prison. The only certain schedule is that of visits and mail.
At The Hearing, Christophe Gleizes: Reserve And Tears
In the courtroom, Christophe Gleizes spoke in a moved voice. He said he had “deeply” reflected on his mistakes. He stressed his intent and the absence of a will to harm. He reiterated his faith in justice while asking for clemency. Magistrates questioned the route of the reporting. They mentioned JS Kabylie, the club that was the initial reason for his trip. They probed notebooks, exchanges, readings. All the ordinary tools of a profession are here transfigured into incriminating evidence. The room held its breath when the verdict was announced. A whisper was heard, then silence closed in, heavy as an iron door.
The Meaning Of Words And The Narrow Ridge
The notion of praise of terrorism has become a central tool for states confronting the threat. It captures acts, words, signs that, taken alone, can seem innocuous. In Algeria, it carries particular weight. It meets a legacy of war and the memory of the black years. Furthermore, it remains vigilant toward anything seen as a seed of division. This historical density fosters a broad interpretation of risk and strengthens prosecutors’ hands. Christophe Gleizes’s defenders argue that investigation was confused with belligerent intent. They recall that journalism is not a liturgy of certainties, but the patient assembly of conflicting voices. From this friction can arise a possible truth.
Kabylie, Football And Freedom To Report
The trip of Christophe Gleizes aimed at an investigation into Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie. The club remains a legend in the country’s stadiums. Football there serves as a lens to tell the story of a region, its passions and its history. In Kabylie, the ball rolls along ridgelines of politics. People speak of freedom of expression, language, and belonging. An in-depth article on JS Kabylie could only touch on these issues. The reporter dove into a world where sporting fervor intersects older loyalties. It is there that the misunderstanding formed. What elsewhere is called immersive work became a motive for suspicion. Nuance gave way to judicial firmness.
Paris, Algiers And The Test Of Limits
The French reaction aimed to be measured and firm. Emmanuel Macron said he was watching closely. Diplomatic services recall customary practice: respect for sovereignty, consular protection, discreet dialogue. The room for maneuver is narrow. A request for pardon is not made from a podium. It is won through a political calculation whose variables are beyond the parties involved. In Algiers, authorities insist on affirming an independent justice and on the idea that national security is not negotiable. In the middle, a man deprived of air and light.
Open Questions On Justice And The Press
This case questions how a justice system defines the bounds of the sayable. It challenges the stance of a State that wants to protect itself and that of a profession that survives by going to see. It recalls that press freedom is defended not only by principles but by procedures. It also speaks to the isolation of those who investigate in sensitive areas. Finally, it confronts French diplomacy with its limits. A country’s supposed power does not guarantee the release of a citizen. Words, even the most measured, sometimes hit a wall. One thread remains: cassation, if pursued, or pardon if granted. Between those two lines, Christophe Gleizes waits.
A Mirror Of Algerian Balances, A Suspended Hope
The Gleizes file remains a mirror. It reveals how a State imagines peril and how a profession imagines its mission. It reveals the political use of an accusation that has become pivotal. It reveals the fragility of guarantees when a reporter ventures onto a border line. Supporters do not use grand language. They speak of waiting and endurance. They also speak of hope, guarded but vivid, for a presidential gesture. The confirmed 7 years do not punish only one man. They cast, in harsh light, the tension between national security and freedom to report. The story is not over. It is written behind closed doors, in a cell in Tizi Ouzou, and on a desk in Algiers where a pen can, with one stroke, overturn the sentence.