The Latest Breaking News from Christophe Gleizes

French former minister Ségolène Royal on Friday visited French journalist Christophe Gleizes in prison in Algeria, where he is serving a seven-year sentence for alleged support of terrorism, after meeting with the country's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune – raising hopes for a possible turnaround in his case.

The mother of jailed French journalist Christophe Gleizes wrote a letter to Algeria's president requesting he pardon her son from his seven-year sentence on terror-related charges.

Algeria has pardoned French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal after a request from Germany, to where he will be transferred for medical treatment after a year in detention, it was announced Wednesday.

President Emmanuel Macron urged a tougher line from Paris in an intensifying standoff with former north African colony Algeria, saying France's stance needed to "command respect".

Christophe Gleizes, a 36-year-old freelance sports journalist, was sentenced last week over an interview with an Algerian football coach accused of ties to a banned separatist movement, in a case rights groups say criminalises routine reporting.

Algerian authorities have sentenced a prominent French sports journalist to seven years in prison for "glorifying terrorism", media rights campaigners RSF have said, denouncing the verdict as "nonsensical". Christophe Gleizes, who contributes to the So Foot magazine, will file an appeal on Monday.