France criticizes French journalist’s seven-year jail sentence in Algeria

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PARIS, Dec 3 (Reuters) – The French government on Wednesday criticized the decision by an Algerian court to uphold a seven-year jail sentence for French journalist Christophe Gleizes despite its efforts to convince Algerian authorities to change the verdict.

“It regrets that its full cooperation with the Algerian authorities and the explanations provided by his defence team were not enough to change the verdict. We call for his release and hope for a favourable outcome so that he can quickly be reunited with his family,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.

“France reiterates its commitment to freedom of the press throughout the world,” the statement said. 

Ties between Paris and Algiers deteriorated sharply after France recognised Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara. The cases of Gleizes and French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who was also sentenced to a lengthy prison term, have exacerbated the tensions. Relations were also strained by Algiers’ refusal to take back people who were deported by French authorities.   

Sansal, however, was pardoned last month by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Gleizes, a journalist for French magazines So Foot and Society, was arrested in May 2024 in Tizi Ouzou, 100 kilometres east of Algiers, where he was working on a story about sports in the region of Kabylia, French press freedom activist group Reporters Sans Frontieres, RSF, said.

He was charged and convicted of “glorifying terrorism” by a local court in June, RSF said. The ruling was upheld on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro in Paris; Editing by Matthew Lewis)