ALGIERS, Algeria - Two converts to Christianity were convicted Wednesday of illegally promoting their faith in Muslim Algeria and handed suspended sentences and fines, their lawyer said.
Rachid Mohammed Seghir, 40, and Jammal Dahmani, 36, were sentenced for "distributing documents that aimed at weakening the faith of Muslims," lawyer Khelloudja Khalfoun said.
"It's very likely we will appeal," she told The Associated Press by telephone after leaving the courthouse in Tissemsilt, some 150 miles southwest of Algiers.
"The accusations were not proven, and the court's decision is not justified," she said.
Each defendant was given a six-month suspended sentence and a fine of 100,000 dinars ($1,560).
Both are evangelical Protestant Christians and first were prosecuted when extracts from the Bible and other Christian books were found in one of their cars in 2007 during a routine check.
They were charged with proselytizing, or trying to spread their faith among Muslims, as well as praying in a building that had not been granted a religious permit by authorities.
Only a tiny fraction of Algeria's 34 million people are not Muslim, with Christians and Jews comprising up to 1 percent of the population, according to a U.S. government estimate.
Algeria's constitution allows freedom of worship. But a decree approved by parliament in February 2006 strictly regulates how religions other than Islam can be practiced.
The text is viewed as primarily targeting Protestant faiths, which have become increasingly active in Algeria. It provides for jail sentences of up to five years and a euro10,000 ($15,570) fine for anyone trying to incite a Muslim to convert to another faith.
The president of the Association of Algerian Protestant churches, Mustapha Krim, said Wednesday's verdict was "scandalous" because it infringes on people's freedom of opinion.
Krim called on the 2006 decree "to be radically changed so that Christians in Algeria can live their faith freely and serenely, like Muslims."
He told the AP that more than a half-dozen court cases currently target Protestants in Algeria.
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Associated Press writer Alfred de Montesquiou contributed to this report.
Comments
Suspended sentences and the fines are nothing, I say we keep giving support to this guys and keep them in our prayers and they shall be alright.
Shalom to all my Christian brethren especially Star, Prophet and Tamna. God bless and keep you guys.
Just as we have remnants from the Druids in 2008, all the religions will have "remnants." I think Christianity will be more than a remnant, really. I think it will continue to be a major force for good in the world, especially after it drops many of the cultural biases still held by many modern American evangelicals.
I really don't think Christianity will fade away, either. A hundred years from now (or 500, maybe), Christianity will still be coexisting with Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and dozens of other religions, just as it does today.
hlerwin-
(And, as long as I'm on a roll, what Europe and America's religion will be after Christianity fades away....) We humans have a very long and complicated history here on earth.
Christianity will certainly never fade away, both history and Gods word show that to be true. you can bet on Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
john14:6, that is interesting. I want to study what the religion of the different peoples of Algeria and their neighbors actually was before Islam came. They weren't all Christians, were they? I wonder what their religion was before they were Christians.(And, for that matter, I wonder what their religion will be in the future, after Islam fades away.) (And, as long as I'm on a roll, what Europe and America's religion will be after Christianity fades away....) We humans have a very long and complicated history here on earth.
hlerwin--
Your statements, and your mother's opinion, are in direct opposition to the Great Commission which is a command from Jesus to his disciples (that would be all of us that consider ourselves Christians). We are supposed to take the gospel to the most hostile nations on earth, that's where it's needed the most. Not all of us end up as missionaries, not all of us feel called to that purpose, but we are all required to pray for missionaries and support them in whatever ways we can.
And as to your opinion of Algeria, what do you think was the religion of Algeria before the Muslims invaded and conquered it? Do you know what the major religion was in the countries of Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and the Caucuses was before the Muslim hordes overran those countries and forced the native populations to convert to Islam at the point of a sword? They were peaceful Christian nations for centuries before the hordes of Islam rode out of the Arabian peninsula.
buttinskiis not! :D There Christs Ambassadors, they are personal Representatives of the Son of God. Amen.
Good point, igh.
buttinskiis not! :D There Christs Ambassadors, they are personal Representatives of the Son of God. Amen.
Ephesians 6:19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
Ephesians 6:20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Father in the name of Jesus i Pray for the Brethren in Algeria that you please give them Justice for all the world to see, let them continue to serve in every capacity, helping the homeless, feeding the hungry, visiting those sick and in prison, clothing and providing all needs of those in poverty. Let your light shine and name be Glorified over the whole earth , Amen.
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
A link to this article has been posted on the website GoodNewsNow.com.
I agree with Mustapha Krim, who said Wednesday's verdict was "scandalous" because it infringes on people's freedom of opinion. These majority-Muslim nations have a long way to go on basic human rights.
On the other hand, just as I stated somewhere else about China, I don't think Christianity will ever be the major religion in Algeria, either. I also told the following story about my mother, a woman of deep, quiet faith, who will be 94 this year:
One afternoon a couple of years ago, Mother was watching FOX News. The announcer told the plight of some Christian missionaries who had been captured in Iraq, including several American young women. Besides photos of two sweetly smiling barely-20-something girls, the newscast showed the families of the missionaries in the U. S. and in Scandinavia making televised pleas that the Muslim captors release their loved ones. "That's a sad story," Mother commented. She turned off the television and added, "I've always thought that missionaries were buttinskis." "Have you really?" I asked. "Certainly I have! I think all those people in other countries have their own religions, and they don't need us going over there telling them about ours." I challenged my mother, "But the Bible says we should take the gospel to all the lands of the earth, doesn't it?" "Well, the Bible is just wrong about that," Mother stated flatly. "How would we like it if those people came over here trying to get us to change to their religion? Not one bit, I can tell you. No, those Christian missionaries are just buttinskis. They don't know it. But everybody else does. And somebody needs to tell them just to stay home!"
"Make no mistake, when Muslims attain demographic parity in this country, this is exactly what they have planned for us, as well."
Actually, so do the liberals, gay & lesbians and the list goes on. It is part of the "spirit of anti-christ" which will be required to "criminalize" Christianity.
It's seems as though California is leading the way!
Everyone please pray for these brothers and sisters in Christ, in Algeria and everywhere in the Muslim world. They are taking the gospel and bearing witness in the most hostile regions on earth, to the Christian faith.
Make no mistake, when Muslims attain demographic parity in this country, this is exactly what they have planned for us, as well.
It is in reading articles like these that I am reminded how blessed we are to live in a country that supports freedom of religion.