Algerian Court Upholds French Journalist's Terrorism Sentence but Rejects Harsher Penalty, Opening Possible Presidential Pardon

An Algerian court cleared the way for a presidential pardon of detained French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes by rejecting prosecutors' request for a tougher sentence and acknowledging his withdrawal of a final appeal, his lawyers said Wednesday.

The Court of Cassation, Algeria's highest court of appeal, issued the decision on June 4. Lawyers Amirouche Bakouri and Emmanuel Daoud announced the ruling in a statement posted on Facebook.

"A decisive step has just been taken regarding the legal situation of Mr Christophe Gleizes," the lawyers said. "The future of Mr Christophe Gleizes now falls under the prerogatives of the president of the republic," they added. The move opens the possibility of a pardon by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Gleizes, 37, was arrested in May 2024 while traveling to northeastern Algeria's Kabylia region to write about the football club Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie. He was sentenced in June 2025 to seven years in prison for "glorifying terrorism" after being convicted of contact with members of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie, a foreign-based group Algiers has designated a terrorist organization.

The sentence was upheld on appeal in December.

In March, Gleizes withdrew his appeal to the Court of Cassation. " Algeria traditionally issues pardons during major religious and national holidays, including July 5, the day marking independence from French colonial rule in 1962. A banner showing Gleizes was displayed in Marseille on June 2.

Thibaut Bruttin, head of Reporters Without Borders, which coordinates a support committee for Gleizes, told AFP that a pardon was "the only solution" for the journalist's release.