Algeria: Christian jailed for Facebook posts

Algeria | 22 September 2016

Human Right Watch reported on 7 September 2016 that an Algerian court of appeal upheld the sentencing of Slimane Bouhafs to three years" imprisonment for insulting Islam. Bouhafs, a convert from Islam, was charged under article 144 of the Algerian penal code for "offending the prophet" and "denigrating the dogma or precepts of Islam" which carries a prison term of three to five years and a fine of up to 100,000 dinars (US$914). The criminal proceedings were initiated when police were monitoring Facebook blogs and came across Bouhafs" page. The case was then taken up by the electronic crimes department at the police headquarters in Algiers. Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "The sentencing of Slimane Bouhafs shows what dangers Christians who have converted from Islam face, especially when they express their faith in public. Both the speed of the trial and the fact that the conviction was upheld by a court of appeal show the grim reality of the persecution of Christians in Algeria. Due to the existing blasphemy laws and the fact that prosecutors and courts interpret these in a way that severely restricts the freedom of religion, many Christians are forced to live in fear. The manner in which the trial was conducted would also seem to indicate that the fair trial rights of Christians are not being taken seriously."