A Christian in Oran, Algeria convicted of posting a caricature of Islam's prophet Muhammad on social media was sentenced to a five-year prison. His lawyer said that the heavy sentence was due to his religious affiliation.
The presiding judge in Oran City Court of Justice gave the sentence on Monday and added a fine of 100,000 dinars (US$750). Farid Khemisti, the defendant's attorney, said that his 43-year-old client apparently received such burdensome verdict for the simple reason that he is a Christian.
"I really hoped for a reduction in the sentence - I expected at the worst, six months in prison," Khemisti told Morning Star News. "That is the maximum that a fair judgment would have given, but I don't think my client's being a Christian made it any easier."
The attorney pleaded for his client's release as he is not the creator nor the original source of the cartoon in question. He merely re-posted it on his Facebook account in 2018.
"I pleaded for his release, because it is clear that my client does not deserve such a heavy sanction," Khemisti explained and added that "the investigating security services could not find anything else in his client's Facebook account other than the cartoon."
Khemisti also said that the judge and prosecutor didn't like it when he suggested that the punishment was that heavy simply because his client was a Christian.
"I said to them, 'If it's because my client is a Christian that you condemn him so heavily, say it honestly,'" Khemisti said. "Of course, they didn't like it; their faces changed color as I told them that."
According to the non-profit news service, Khemisti's client was accused by an Islamic extremist whom he had done business with as a honey seller. His accuser filed his complaint in December 2020 which led the security services to get a hold of the cartoon used to pin a crime on Khemisti's client. The cartoon sat on the accused Christian's Facebook for 3 years prior to his arrest.
"(The client) assured me that he had never intended to harm Islam or anyone, and that he did not know how he had become trapped in receiving this post," Khemisti said. "If I was not sure of the innocence of my client, I would not have agreed to defend him, because I will never defend someone who infringes on the freedom of others, on the religion or faith of anyone."
The Christian convicted of blasphemy is a father of 4 children ages 6, 4, 3 and 3 months. He's also a poultry farmer in El-Aiyaida near the city of Oran. Police arrested him on Jan. 20 and was soon sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment under the Article 144 of Algeria's penal code which penalized anyone convicted of insulting Muhammad.
Several organizations have also condemned Article 144 for its violation of international human rights law. Freedom House, a pro-democracy group, said the article has been "commonly used to persecute Christians" in Algeria where Muslims are the majority.
"It is a tragedy for us and for his family, " said Pastor Seighir of Oratoire Church in Oran. "When a member of the Body of Christ is sick, the whole body feels the pain. (This brother) was naive in accepting this cartoon on his Facebook account. That this story goes back three years and only now it's resurfacing - it's hard to digest."
Open Doors ranked Algeria ranked 24th in its 2021 World Watch List.
