The family of French sports journalists sentenced to Algeria to seven years in prison are seeking help from Algerian football superstar Zinedine Zidane, a sports world and soccer superstar Zinédine Zidane.
Christophe Glise, a 36-year-old freelance journalist, was sentenced last week in an interview with an Algerian football coach accused of connections with a banned separatist movement.
Gleizes’ family was reportedly advised to remain quiet in the detention of his son by French diplomats following his sentence, but they decided to break the silence.
In an interview with French Broadcasting Station France 2 on Thursday evening, Grice’s relatives called on sports personalities to support his case.
“It’s great that Zinedine Zidane is involved in this fight,” said Grice’s stepfather, Francis Godard.
Godard said the incident was “a fight for both the freedom of the media and the world of football. Journalists are mobilised as we know, but they hope that the world of sports will be mobilised.
Gleizes was tried and found guilty, but prosecutors have not made public claims and Algerian officials have not commented on the case.
Algerian authorities have been repeatedly accused of using anti-terrorism laws to target political speeches by rights advocates.
Cases dating back to May 2024
Journalist and football fanglise was arrested in May 2024 after traveling to Algeria and writing a series of articles including articles on the golden age of the Jenesse Sports Decabilly Football Club in the Kabilia region.
On May 28th, Grice was arrested and placed under judicial oversight for entering Algeria on a tourist visa, saying “pleasing terrorism” and “owning propaganda publications that are harmful to the national interests,” the Unbounded Reporter (RSF) said last week that the charges were “unsurprising.”
According to the RSF, the charges stem from the fact that he was in contact with a coach at the Jenesse Sports de Cabilly (JSK) football club in the Cabilly region of Algeria.
The Algerian government opposed Kabilee’s independence and cracked down on groups that supported it.
The RSF reported that the individuals Gleizes touched were key figures in the self-determination movement of Kabilly (MAK), designated as a terrorist organization by Algerian authorities in 2021.
However, the RSF added, “The initial interaction between Christopher Glise and the individual in question occurred in 2015 and 2017, long before MAK was banned as a terrorist entity.”
A few years later, in 2024, Glise again made contact with individuals in preparation for his work at the JSK Football Club, but this is not something he hid.
The French journalist’s ruling was reported as France-Algeria relations reached a new low. The two countries are adding to changes in positions surrounding migration, extradition, trade and French conflict status in Western Sahara.
