The New-York based Committee to Protect Journalists has called on the Algerian regime to cease crackdown on media and prosecution of journalists 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 he had been convicted 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.
Several NGOs have called on Algerian rulers to honor their commitment to a free, independent, and transparent press. They denounce the persistent authoritarian abuses violating freedom of expression. Repressive measures and legal procedures, together with systematic censorship, are deployed by many security agencies to suppress critical voices amid deepening socioeconomic and political crises.
In 2019, millions of Algerians peacefully took to the streets to demand democratic transformation. This Hirak movement carried hopes for far-reaching reform and a ‘free and democratic Algeria’.
But five years later, the popular momentum of Hirak has been harshly repressed by the Algerian military regime which has deployed full security, judicial, and media arsenal to shrink civic space, intimidate dissenting voices, and maintain the authoritarian status quo. Algerian citizens, activists, journalists, and writers are reeling under unprecedented widespread repression.
