Christophe Gleizes imprisoned in Algeria: 346 days after his conviction, the hope of clemency at the start of the World Cup

This Friday, June 12, 2026, it has been 346 days since Christophe Gleizes, a journalist from Agen, was sentenced in Algeria for “apology of terrorism” and “possession of publications for the purpose of propaganda harmful to the national interest”. They say that time is a prison, but the time that Christophe Gleizes spends between the four walls of his Algerian cell is really long.

Algerian football was to be the subject of his next report. In Tizi Ouzou, in the heart of Kabylia, Christophe Gleizes came to tell the story of JS Kabylie, a legendary club and symbol of a region with a strong identity. Regular contributor to magazines So Foot et Societythe 37-year-old reporter has specialized for more than a decade in stories where football intersects with social and political issues, particularly in Africa. In May 2024, he went to Algeria to investigate the history of JS Kabylie and the controversial death of Cameroonian footballer Albert Ebossé, who died in 2014 in circumstances which continue to fuel questions.

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“Punished for practicing his profession”

On May 28, 2024, he was arrested by the Algerian authorities in Tizi Ouzou. After several months under judicial control, the ax fell. Algerian justice accuses him in particular of exchanges with personalities linked to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK), classified as a terrorist organization by Algiers since 2021.

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Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and several French media outlets denounce the criminalization of journalistic work. According to them, the contacts established by Christophe Gleizes were strictly related to his professional activity. His lawyer has always denounced the emptiness of the file, while RSF believes that he is being punished “for simply having exercised his profession”.

Political steps to beautify Paris-Algiers relations

The case is all the more thorny since relations between Paris and Algiers have not been in good shape since the recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in 2024. In December 2025, the Tizi Ouzou appeal court confirmed the seven-year prison sentence. Christophe Gleizes then becomes the only French journalist detained in the world. Since then, support initiatives have multiplied: petitions, banners displayed in town hall, positions taken by football personalities. Every day, the show Daily(TMC) never stops mentioning the prisoner’s case.

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There now remains the question of a possible release. On May 25, the Algerian Supreme Court rejected the prosecution’s cassation appeal, definitively closing the legal proceedings against the French reporter. The main hope today lies in a presidential pardon granted by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. This hypothesis is all the more mentioned as the French authorities have discreetly intensified their diplomatic efforts, taking advantage of a timid resumption of dialogue between Paris and Algiers in recent months.

“It is essential that Christophe finds his family and the stadium press box,” insisted Thibaut Bruttin, the director general of RSF, who heads the committee supporting Christophe Gleizes, while the Football World Cup has just started on June 11 in the United States, Mexico and Canada. A request supported by the president of the French Football Federation, Philippe Diallo, on June 6. “The Federation calls for this clemency from the Algerian authorities so that this journalist can, just before the great football festival, reunite with his family and loved ones.”

Long silent on the issue, FIFA President Gianni Infantino hoped, Wednesday June 10, that Christophe Gleizes would obtain a presidential pardon. “There is a free seat, that of the French journalist Christophe Gleizes, who is the only imprisoned sports journalist in the world.” he declared.