Algeria upholds 7-year sentence for French journalist, convicts two others

New York, December 8, 2025 — Algerian authorities must cease their legal attacks on the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday, as a seven-year prison sentence was upheld against French journalist Christophe Gleizes, and convictions issued against Algerian columnist Saad Bouakba and Vision TV director Abderrahim Harraoui.

On Wednesday, December 3, the Tizi Ouzou appeals court confirmed a seven-year prison sentence against Gleizes, a French reporter and contributor to French magazines So Foot and Society, after convicting him of “glorifying terrorism.” Authorities arrested Gleizes on May 28, 2024, following his reporting trip to Tizi Ouzou to cover JS Kabylie, a football club allegedly linked to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), which Algeria classifies as a terrorist organization. 

“By upholding a seven-year sentence against French journalist Christophe Gleizes for conducting an interview and issuing a three-year suspended sentence alongside a heavy fine against journalist Saad Bouakba while shutting down Vision TV, Algerian authorities are intensifying a deeply alarming crackdown on the press,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “All journalists must be allowed to work freely without fear of imprisonment.”

French President Emmanuel Macron called the verdict “excessive” and “unjust,” and expressed support for Gleizes on December 4, saying he “sends his thoughts to him and his family” and that France will continue working with Algerian authorities to secure his release. 

In a separate case on December 4, the Bir Mourad Raïs court in Algiers released Bouakba, arrested on November 27, after issuing a three-year suspended prison sentence against him and a fine of one million Algeria dinar (about $7600 USD) over comments made in a podcast on the local YouTube news channel Vision TV. Bouakba was convicted of insulting symbols of the National Liberation Revolution and spreading false information.

The court also sentenced Vision TV director Abderrahim Harraoui to a one-year suspended sentence and ordered the permanent closure of the channel and the confiscation of all its equipment.

CPJ emailed the Algerian Ministry of the Interior for comment but did not receive a response.