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French journalist Christophe Gleizes has been detained for 500 days in Algeria

On Wednesday, November 11, the mother of Christophe Gleizes read a letter written by the journalist's grandmother.

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Key facts

  • On Wednesday, November 11, Christophe Gleizes's mother read a letter written by the journalist's grandmother.
  • French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes has been detained for 500 days in one of Algeria's largest prisons.
  • The grandmother, who will soon turn 103, is desperate. The journalist, for his part, is said to be well treated in one of the country's largest prisons.

On Wednesday, November 11, Christophe Gleizes's mother read a letter written by the journalist's grandmother.

French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes has been detained for 500 days in one of Algeria's largest prisons.

The grandmother, who will soon turn 103, is desperate. The journalist, for his part, is said to be well treated in one of the country's largest prisons.

Christophe Gleizes's mother has appealed several times to the Algerian president to obtain her son's release.

The response to these repeated efforts has been silence.

Algeria accuses him of having met a member of the Kabylie self-determination movement. That contact is the grievance held against him.

Dig deeper

Who is Christophe Gleizes?

He is a French sports journalist specializing in football, held in Algeria for 500 days for having met a member of the Kabylie self-determination movement.

What is Kabylie?

It is a mountainous region in northern Algeria with a strong Amazigh (Berber) identity, where cultural and political demands are longstanding and sensitive for the authorities.

What is the Kabylie self-determination movement?

It is a political current that calls for self-determination for Kabylie; the Algerian authorities regard it as a terrorist organization, and contact with one of its members is the charge retained against Gleizes.

Why is this detention being closely followed?

It raises the question of press freedom and the fate of a French journalist imprisoned in Algeria, while his family's appeals to the Algerian president remain unanswered.

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