Family of French journalist jailed in Algeria asks Zidane for help

The family of a French sports journalist who has been sentenced to seven years in prison in Algeria is calling for help from the sporting world and football superstar Zinédine Zidane, who is of Algerian descent.

Christophe Gleizes, a 36-year-old freelance journalist, was sentenced last week over an interview with an Algerian football coach accused of ties to a banned separatist movement, in a case rights groups say criminalises routine reporting.

Although Gleizes’ family had been reportedly advised to keep quiet about their son’s detention by French diplomats, following his sentencing, they decided to break their silence.

In an interview with French broadcaster France 2 on Thursday evening, Gleizes’ relatives called on sports personalities to support his case.

“It would be great if Zinédine Zidane were to get involved in this fight,” said Gleizes’ father in law, Francis Godard.

Godard added that the case was “a fight for both freedom of the press and the world of football. Journalists are mobilised, as we know, but we would like the sporting world to be just as mobilised. Christophe is a sports journalist and is therefore interested in the business of sport. This concerns the world of sport very directly.”

Although Gleizes has been tried and convicted, prosecutors have not publicly announced the charges and Algerian officials have not commented on the case.

Algerian authorities have been repeatedly accused of using anti-terrorism laws to target political speech by rights advocates.

A case dating back to May 2024

Journalist and football fan Gleizes was arrested in May 2024, after travelling to Algeria to write a series of articles, including a piece about the golden era of the Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie football club, located in the Kabylia region.

On 28 May, Gleizes was arrested and placed under judicial supervision for having entered Algeria on a tourist visa, “glorifying terrorism,” and “possessing propaganda publications harmful to the national interest,” Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said last week, stating that the charges were “unfounded.”

According to RSF, the charges stem from the fact that Gleizes was in contact with a coach from the Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JSK) football club, located in the Kabylie region of Algeria.

The Algerian government opposes Kabylie independence and has cracked down on groups backing it.

RSF reported that the individual who Gleizes was in touch with, happens to be a leading figure in the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), which was designated a terrorist organisation by the Algerian authorities in 2021. 

However, RSF added that “the first interactions between Christopher Gleizes and the individual in question occurred in 2015 and 2017, well before the MAK was proscribed as a terrorist entity.”

Years later, in 2024, in preparation for his piece on the JSK football club, Gleizes made contact with the individual again, however this is not something which he concealed.

The French journalist’s sentence was handed down as relations between France and Algeria have reached new lows. The two countries are sparring over migration, extradition, trade and France’s change in position over the status of the disputed Western Sahara.