Jailed French sports journalist drops Algeria appeal in hopes of presidential pardon

French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes, who is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence in Algeria, has withdrawn his appeal to the country’s highest court, paving the way for a possible pardon from President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, his family announced on Tuesday.

 “We have taken the decision (…) that Christophe should withdraw his appeal to the Court of Cassation,” the journalist’s mother, Sylvie Godard, told radio station France Inter.

“He is placing his complete trust in President Tebboune’s clemency. It is a very powerful, symbolic gesture,” she added.

Read moreMother of jailed French journalist appeals to Algerian president for pardon

Gleizes’ family hopes that “improved relations between France and Algeria” will work in the journalist’s favour and secure his release, his father-in-law Francis Godard said, adding that a “climate of hostility” between the two countries had contributed to his imprisonment.

France’s Home Secretary Laurent Nunez visited Algeria in mid-February, where he was received by President Tebboune.

The visit helped to initiate a thaw in bilateral relations between the two countries, which have been in crisis since the summer of 2024.

Gleizes was arrested in 2024 when authorities said he entered the country on a tourist visa while reporting on JS Kabylie football team.

JS Kabylie is historically Algeria’s most dominant team, whose successes are enmeshed in the movement to win cultural recognition for the Amazigh minority.

Gleizes was convicted of violating Algeria’s anti-terrorism laws and possessing publications intended for propaganda, in a case lambasted by rights groups and French media.

Read moreSupporters of French journalist imprisoned in Algeria rally at Bataclan hall in Paris

He is the only French journalist imprisoned worldwide, according to French media. 

The charges stemmed from contact Gleizes had with the head of a soccer club who was also a member of a political movement that Algeria had designated as a terrorist group, Reporters Without Borders said at the time.

(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)