TISSEMSILT, Algeria — A court in western Algeria convicted two Muslim converts to Christianity July 2 for illegally spreading their faith. The court in Tissemsilt, Algeria, 125 miles southwest of Algiers, handed Rachid Seghir, 37, and Djallal Dahmani six-month suspended sentences and $1,660 fines. The men were found guilty of “distributing documents to shake the faith of Muslims.” The case has received both local and international publicity following a wave of trials this year against Algerian Christians for evangelism and illegally practicing their faith.
Seghir has now moved from Tiaret to the coastal city of Oran with his wife and 1-year-old daughter after police shut down his Internet café in April. Officials closed the business for failure to obtain necessary written permission from local police, but Seghir said that this was an excuse to harass him for his work as an evangelist, as many Internet cafés in Algeria function without such permission.
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