Ligue Méditerranée writes to Algerian president to seek release of Christophe Gleizes | OneFootball

According to L'Équipe, the Ligue Méditerranée de Football wrote on nine December to the Algerian embassy in France and to President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, requesting the release of French journalist Christophe Gleizes, who has been sentenced to seven years in prison in Algeria.

The move followed a unanimous vote by Mediterranean clubs at the league’s General Assembly on six December, three days after his conviction on appeal. Support for Gleizes has been growing.

Eric Borghini, the league’s president, said it was the first and, to their knowledge, the only FFF regional league to pass, unanimously and in General Assembly on six December, a motion asking for a presidential pardon for the journalist.

In the motion, Borghini highlighted the Mediterranean’s two shores, noting he presides over the French side and emphasised strong historical links with the African side. He pointed out that Algiers is 90 minutes from Marseille by plane, the length of a football match, and that the region hosts a large Algerian and Franco-Algerian diaspora.

He said the unanimous backing to ask, alongside the family of Christophe Gleizes, for President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to grant a pardon was symbolically significant.

Source: L'Équipe