Undated photograph of French journalist Christophe Gleizes, in front of the Grand Mosque of Algiers. AFP PHOTO/SO PRESS-RSF, SUR AUTORISATION DE LA FAMILLE GLEIZES
The distress matched the hope that Christophe Gleizes, his loved ones and his supporters had nurtured in recent weeks. When the Tizi Ouzou Court of Appeal issued its ruling on Wednesday, December 3, around 6 pm, the 36-year-old French journalist, who had arrived at the courthouse smiling that morning, struggled to hide his emotion. Just a few meters away, his mother and stepfather, Sylvie and Francis Godard, along with his partner, Valentine Martin, who had arrived in Kabylie a few days earlier, were also in shock.
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Algerian court upholds French journalist's seven-year prison sentence
The judges confirmed the decision handed down in the first instance on June 29. For the second time in less than six months, the contributor to the So Press group (So Foot, Society, etc.) was sentenced to seven years in prison for "glorifying terrorism" and "possessing publications for propaganda purposes that undermine the national interest." French President Emmanuel Macron "learned with deep concern of the appeal conviction" of the journalist, the Elysée Palace said on Thursday, adding: "We will continue to work with the Algerian authorities to secure his release."
