TIARET, Algeria — An Algerian public prosecutor has demanded a three-year sentence for a convert to Christianity in western Algeria for practicing her faith "without license." Habiba Kouider, 37, was taken off a city bus outside her hometown of Tiaret March 29 when police found several Bibles and books on Christianity in her handbag. "You reinstate Islam and I will [drop the case]; if you persist in sin you will undergo the lightning of justice," the prosecutor told her.
As of May 21, Kouider "refused to give up her new faith under the pressure," prompting the prosecutor to bring charges against her. She is accused of "practicing non-Muslim religious rites without a license," according to a copy of the written charge. At the hearing, Kouider’s defense lawyer told the court that the charge against her client did not exist in the law. "There is no trace of a possible reason to try individuals for the ‘practice of non-Muslim worship without authorization,’" Khelloudja Khalfoun said.
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