The appeal hearing of French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes, who is serving a seven-year prison sentence in Algeria on charges of “glorifying terrorism,” has been scheduled for December 3, his lawyer confirmed on Friday.
Gleizes, a 36-year-old contributor to So Foot and Society magazines, was convicted in late June after being accused of links to a banned separatist group.
According to his lawyer, Amirouche Bakouri, the appeal will take place at the criminal appeal court in Tizi Ouzou, located about 110 kilometres east of Algiers.
Gleizes had travelled to the Kabylia region to report on Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JS Kabylie), one of Algeria’s most popular football clubs. Authorities, however, alleged that he had been in contact with a local football figure associated with the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK) — a group the government classified as a terrorist organisation in 2021.
Press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called for his immediate release, denouncing the charges as politically motivated.
“Christophe is guilty only of practising his profession as a sports journalist and of loving Algerian football,” RSF Director-General Thierry Bruttin said in a statement, urging the appeal court to overturn the conviction.
