Algerian Christian Stands Retrial for Insulting Prophet Muhammad
Siagh Krimo, an Algerian Christian who was arrested for proselytizing, is scheduled to stand trial on Thursday.
Krimo, who is 29 years old and married with an infant daughter, was arrested on April 14 and held for three days in Oran for giving a neighbor a CD about Christianity. On May 4, Krimo was sentenced to five years in prison for blasphemy based on the neighbor’s accusation that he had insulted the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
“In the argument which led to the conviction of my client, there is no evidence,” Krimo’s lawyer, Muhammad Ben Belkacem, told the Algerian daily Liberté. “Even the person who complained was never presented at the hearing … [All evidence], including DVDs seized at the home of Siagh Krimo, were never presented in court ... As for insulting the Prophet, [Krimo] totally denies it!”...