French Journalist’s Imprisonment Deepens Tensions Between Paris and Algiers

The jailing of French sports journalist, Christophe Gleizes in Algeria is increasingly seen as part of a wider diplomatic chill between Paris and Algiers, his parents have said, warning against their son being made a “collateral victim” of strained political ties.

Gleizes, a contributor to French football magazine So Foot, was sentenced in June to seven years in prison on charges of “glorifying terrorism.” He is currently being held in the city of Tizi Ouzou, with an appeal scheduled for the autumn.

“Even if his morale is high, even if he is in fighting mood, he feels completely cut off from the world, isolated,” his mother, Sylvie Godard, told AFP after visiting him earlier this month alongside her husband, Francis.

Speaking from the Paris offices of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), she stressed the need to keep her son’s case separate from political quarrels.

Francis Godard echoed the concern, saying his stepson was a “kind of collateral victim of the bad relations between France and Algeria at the moment.”

Tensions between the two countries have escalated since President Emmanuel Macron’s July 2024 endorsement of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a disputed territory where Algiers supports the pro-independence Polisario Front. The fallout has included tit-for-tat expulsions of consular staff.

In addition to Gleizes, Algeria has also sentenced French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal to five years in prison for allegedly undermining national unity, further straining ties between the nations.

“We don’t want Christophe’s case to be used to resolve political issues with which Christophe has nothing to do,” Sylvie Godard said.

Gleizes remains the only French journalist currently detained abroad, according to RSF, which has condemned the verdict as a blow to press freedom.

Punch