French journalist Gleizes marks one year in Algerian prison as RSF renews appeal
37-year-old Gleizes, who contributes to the magazines So Foot and Society, was sentenced on 29 June 2025 to seven years in prison for “glorifying terrorism”.
He had been arrested in May 2024 while working on a report about Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie – better known as JSK – one of Algeria's most prominent football clubs.
Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, said on Monday that the anniversary should serve as a renewed appeal to Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
“It has been a year since Christophe Gleizes was unjustly detained,” said Thibaut Bruttin, RSF's director-general, in a statement. RSF heads the support committee set up for the journalist.
Bruttin said Gleizes should have been reporting from the World Cup, which began on 11 June and runs until 19 July.
“The World Cup is taking place with an empty chair bearing his name in the press box; his official accreditation serves as a reminder that his place is in the stadiums, amongst the journalists covering the event, and not in a prison cell,” he said.
Fifa grants World Cup accreditation to jailed French journalist Christophe Gleizes
Hope for a presidential pardon
On the eve of the World Cup's opening, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he hoped Gleizes would be granted a presidential pardon and be able to attend the tournament. FIFA had accredited the journalist to cover the competition.
Gleizes was first arrested in Algeria in May 2024 while reporting on JSK. He was placed under judicial supervision before being convicted the following year.
In March, he withdrew an appeal before Algeria's Court of Cassation in the hope that doing so would clear the way for a presidential pardon. In May, Algerian courts also rejected an appeal filed by the public prosecutor's office, bringing the legal proceedings to a close.
His family and supporters say that should now open the door to a humanitarian gesture.
“We welcome the recent legal developments in Algeria,” his parents, Sylvie and Francis Godard, said in a statement on Monday, urging that “these advances” should “lead swiftly to a presidential pardon”.
They added: “We continue to wait, with hope and dignity, for Christophe's return to us.”
Jailed French journalist drops appeal in Algeria and eyes presidential pardon
'Cut off from the world'
Gleizes's brother visited him on Sunday at Kolea prison, his parents told RTL radio.
His mother said the conditions in prison were “very good” and that her son was physically well. But she said the strain of detention was increasingly difficult.
“Health-wise, he's doing well, but being locked up is really starting to take its toll on him: he's cut off from the world and from current events,” she said.
His family also referred to his 102-year-old grandmother, who marked what they called a “sad anniversary” by renewing her plea in a video to see her grandson again.
RSF and Gleizes's relatives have maintained that he was in Algeria as a journalist carrying out legitimate reporting work.
(With newswires)