Morning Star News is reporting that nearly nine months since an Algerian court last heard his case, a Christian convert from Islam still awaits a ruling on the appeal of his unusually harsh sentence for allegedly "proselytising" and defaming Islam and its prophet.
According to its Algeria Correspondent, Krimo Siaghi (also known as Karim Siaghi) was arrested on April 14, 2011 in Oran, 470 kilometers (292 miles) west of Algiers, after a religious discussion with a phone shop merchant.
Prosecutors had requested a sentence of only two years in prison and fine of 50,000 Algerian dinars (US$690), but Siaghi was sentenced to five years - the maximum under Algerian law - and a fine of 200,000 dinars (US$2,760).
The judge, he said, wrote in his May 2011 decision, "He denied the allegations, but his apostasy is a presumption of guilt."
While Islam is the state religion in Algeria, apostasy (leaving Islam) and conversion are not illegal, according to the U.S. State Department's 2012 Report on International Religious Freedom. Read more
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