French sportswriter sentenced to 7 years for ‘glorifying terrorism’ in Algeria

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — A French journalist has been sentenced to seven years in prison in Algeria over an interview with a soccer official accused of ties to a banned separatist movement, in a case rights groups say criminalizes routine reporting.

Christophe Gleizes, a 36-year-old freelance sportswriter, was arrested and placed under judicial supervision more than a year ago for entering Algeria without a proper visa, “glorifying terrorism,” and “possessing propaganda publications harmful to the national interest,” Reporters Without Borders said in a statement on Sunday.

He was tried and convicted, although prosecutors have not publicly announced the charges and Algerian officials have not commented on the case.

However, authorities have in the past faced criticism from rights advocates who say Algeria uses anti-terrorism laws to target political speech.

Thibaut Bruttin, Reporters Without Borders director general, called authorities’ decision to hold Gleizes for 13 months before sentencing an example of “absurd judicial control” and called the seven-year sentence “nonsensical.” The press freedom group said Gleizes planned to appeal the sentences on Monday.

The charges against Gleizes, the group said, stemmed from contact he had with the head of a soccer club who was also a member of a political movement that Algeria designated as a terrorist group four years ago.

Gleizes, had contributed to the magazines So Foot and Society, had gone to Algeria last year to report on JS Kabylie, Algeria’s most historically dominant soccer team.

JS Kabylie and its successes are deeply enmeshed in the movement to win cultural recognition for Algeria’s Amazigh minority in the mountainous Kabylia region. The region has for decades been an epicenter of rebellion in Algeria. Authorities have in recent years clamped down on the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia, a separatist group whose leader has been sentenced to death in absentia for “attacking national unity.”

The French journalist’s sentence comes as relations between France and Algeria reach new levels of hostility. The two countries are sparring over migration, extradition, trade and France’s change in position over the status of the disputed Western Sahara.

France’s Foreign Affairs Ministry called Gleizes’ sentence harsh, saying it planned to provide consular support and had applied to visit him in prison.

While the case was received with shock in France’s media, few in Algeria were aware of Gleizes’ detention before the sentence was announced.

“This is a murky affair,” said Karim Adli, a sports journalist based in the city of Tizi Ouzou.