French Journalist Convicted of Terrorism in Algeria to 7 Years in Prison Appeals

JAKARTA - French journalist Christophe Gleizes, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in Algeria on terrorism-related charges, has appealed for a retrial at Algeria's Supreme Court.

Gleizes' lawyer from France, Emmanuel Daoud, when contacted by AFP on Monday, December 15, said his client appealed yesterday. He then declined to comment further.

Meanwhile, Gleizes' lawyer in Algeria, Amirouche Bakouri, made a similar announcement on Facebook.

Earlier this month, an Algerian appeals court upheld a seven-year prison sentence for the sports journalist, who was first found guilty of "glorifying terrorism" in June.

Gleizes was arrested in May 2024 after travelling to Tizi Ouzou in the Kabylia region of north-east Algeria - home to the Amazigh Kabyle tribe - to write about the country's most successful football club, Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie.

In 2021, Gleizes met in Paris with the head of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), an overseas-based group designated a terrorist organization by Algiers earlier that year.

At this month's appeal hearing, Gleizes said he did not know that MAK was listed as a terrorist organization. He also apologized to the court for his "journalistic error."

The court's decision to uphold the sentence against Gleizes was condemned by human rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), as well as the French Government.

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