Lens plays a friendly match in support of French journalist jailed in Algeria – WTOP News

LENS, France (AP) — With its table-topping Ligue 1 clash against Paris Saint-Germain postponed, Lens instead played an exhibition game on Saturday in support of a French journalist imprisoned in Algeria.

Christophe Gleizes is serving a seven-year sentence over an interview with a soccer official accused of ties to a banned separatist movement. An Algerian appeals court upheld the sentence in December quashing hopes for the 37-year-old Frenchman’s early release.

“A whole club is mobilized behind him,” Lens director Benjamin Parrot said Saturday. “We gave his mum a Lens jersey.”

Players wore “Free Gleizes” T-shirts as they warmed up in front of a full crowd at Stade Bollaert-Delelis for the friendly game against third-tier Rouen, which Lens won 2-1.

“We live, sleep, and act for Christophe,” his mother Sylvie told Ligue 1’s broadcaster. “We mustn’t let time get the better of us, because it’s a long process and we continue to fight.”

Gleizes was convicted of violating Algeria’s anti-terrorism laws and possessing publications intended for propaganda, in a case lambasted by rights groups and French media. He is the only French journalist imprisoned worldwide, according to French media.

Gleizes was arrested in 2024. Authorities said he entered the country on a tourist visa while reporting on JS Kabylie, Algeria’s historically most dominant soccer team, whose successes are enmeshed in the movement to win cultural recognition for the Amazigh minority.

The charges stemmed from contact Gleizes had with the head of a soccer club who was also a member of a political movement that Algeria had designated as a terrorist group, Reporters Without Borders said at the time.

In November, hundreds of French media outlets published a collective op-ed across its members’ publications calling for his release.

Ligue 1 postponed game

The French league postponed Saturday’s game between Lens and PSG to allow PSG better preparation for its Champions League quarterfinal against Liverpool. PSG requested the postponement, which was opposed by Lens.

PSG won the first leg against Liverpool 2-0 on Wednesday and plays the return leg at Anfield on Tuesday.

Lens vs. PSG will now be played on May 13. Defending champion PSG is four points ahead of second-place Lens having played one game less.

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