The lawyers for the French journalist detained in Algeria, Christophe Gleizes, announced the closing of all judicial procedures, rendering their client fully eligible for clemency.
The defense of the sports journalist revealed in a statement, signed by Me Bakouri and Me Daoud, that this is a “decisive step that has just been taken regarding the legal situation of Mr. Christophe Gleizes, marking the definitive closing of the judicial chapter of this case.”
According to the same source, by a ruling issued on May 25, 2026, the Algerian Supreme Court has definitively ruled. “The high court officially acknowledged the withdrawal of Monsieur Christophe Gleizes’s appeal and rejected on the merits the appeal filed by Monsieur le Procureur Général près la Cour de Tizi Ouzou,” the defense specified, noting that “this Supreme Court ruling puts an end to all proceedings.”
“The conviction now bears the authority of res judicata. All ordinary and extraordinary legal avenues having today been exhausted, the decision has become irrevocable,” the statement added.
From a strictly legal standpoint, the same document indicated, “the final nature of this sentence lifts the last technical obstacle that stood in the way of implementing a clemency measure.” “Mr. Christophe Gleizes now meets all the required conditions and is, as of today, fully eligible for clemency. With the litigation having now been closed, the future of Mr. Christophe Gleizes now lies within the discretionary prerogatives of the President of the Republic,” the same source said.
After the Algerian Supreme Court’s verdict, the defense, which spoke also on behalf of Christophe Gleizes’s relatives, formally called on the Algerian head of state to grant presidential clemency to the journalist “as soon as possible, to bring a swift and humane resolution to this affair.”
