ICC Note: An Algerian Christian has been sentenced to one year in prison for a Facebook post insulting the prophet Muhammad. This comes after a year-long battle in courts for the accusation since the accused shared and did not author the post.. Bouira, 34, plans to appeal once again to the supreme court in the coming weeks.

01/13/2017 Algeria (WWM): An Algerian Christian has been sentenced to a year in prison for a post he made on Facebook.

On 8 January, the court in Bouira (100 km east of Algiers) found Samir Chamek, 34, guilty of insulting Islam and its prophet over items he posted on his Facebook page.

Samir says he will now appeal to the Supreme Court.

The sentencing follows a year-long legal battle:

December 2015 – cyber-crime officers of the Bouira Judicial Police saw pictures and comments on Chamek’s Facebook page; they said the posts were “accusing the prophet Muhammad of terrorism and murder and comparing the prophet to Hitler, mentioning the persecution and massacre of the Jews.”

Chamek was subsequently detained by police on 6 December 2015, but then released. He told WWM: “I was arrested and taken to the police station, where I was interrogated for nearly five hours. I was asked to open my Facebook page, which I did.”

Based on the report of the Bouira Police, the Public Prosecutor at the Bouira Court initiated legal proceedings against him for the charge of offending and insulting Islam and its prophet under article 144 (bis) of the Algerian Criminal Code.

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