Algerian Christian Given Five Year Prison Sentence for Blasphemy

 

 

Washington -- International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that an Algerian Christian was sentenced to five years imprisonment for blasphemy in Oran on Wednesday after sharing his Christian faith with a neighbor. The verdict came days after authorities forced the permanent closure of seven Protestant churches in Algeria's Béjaia province.

Siagh Krimo was charged by the Criminal Court of the Djamel District in Oran, who based their decision on Article 144 bis 2 of the Penal Code which criminalizes acts that "insult the prophet and any of the messengers of God, or denigrate the creed and precepts of Islam, whether by writing, drawing, declaration, or any other means." Krimo has ten days to appeal the sentence.
Krimo, who is married with a nine month old child, was arrested on April 14, along with another Christian, Sofiane, after sharing his Christian faith with a neighbor. Sofiane was released soon after the arrest, while Krimo was detained for three days. Krimo was known to hold weekly prayer services at his home, which Algerian Christians suspect were being closely monitored by the police.

The prosecutor at Krimo's trial, held on May 4, failed to present as a witness the neighbor who accused Krimo of proselytizing and making defamatory statements against the Muslim prophet Mohammad. Algerian Christians were hopeful that Krimo would be acquitted of all charges. "Good news, the judge, after having invited Krimo to use wisdom and return to Islam, has ended the affair," an Algerian church leader in Tizi Ouzou told ICC on May 4. "We hope this will end well."

The prosecutor, doubtful he would win the case on so little evidence, reportedly asked the judge to have Krimo's sentence reduced to a two year imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 Algerian dinar. However, some believe that higher authorities in the Algerian government were involved in reaching the final decision. "The judge would have normally acquitted Krimo of all charges, but I think he received an order from his superiors to strike hard," said an Algerian representative of the Association of Protestant Churches (EPA).

Krimo's sentence follows an order received by the EPA on May 22 to close seven Protestant churches in the province of Béjaia. The notice stated the churches are to be closed in accordance with Ordinance 06-03, which requires churches to obtain government permission to hold services. Though the EPA has made efforts to comply with the ordinance, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Religious Affairs have refused to register churches or to approve permits quickly.

Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, "Algerian Christians have been under attack in recent weeks as laws have been increasingly enforced to discriminate against them. Earlier this week, seven churches in Béjaia were ordered to close. Now, an Algerian Christian is on the verge of being unjustly imprisoned for accusations of criticizing Islam. While Algeria professes that it upholds religious freedom, it also embraces a blasphemy law that, by its very nature, can be used to prosecute anyone who does not adhere to the religion of Islam. We urge Algeria to acquit Siagh of all charges and repeal Article 144 bis 2 of the Penal Code."

International Christian Concern

And The New Leader of the Free World Is…Saudi Arabia?

 

by Barry Rubin

 

Since the United States is not leading the anti-Islamist forces in the Middle East and protecting the relatively moderate Arab states, the new leader is…Saudi Arabia.

But, you say, isn’t Saudi Arabia also Islamist? Well it’s as Islamic as you can get without being revolutionary Islamist. Isn’t Saudi Arabia profoundly anti-Jewish? Yes, but it mostly just talks about it. Isn’t Saudi Arabia anti-democratic? Yes, we’d prefer the United States but President Barack Obama is busy with other things.
Obama wants Middle East Muslims to love America. There are only two problems:

1. His policy doesn’t work. They don’t love America.

2. The Muslims he keeps appealing to are those who are radical and pro-terrorist. For those who are Muslims but don’t want to overthrow their neighbors, go to war with Israel as soon as possible, throw out U.S. influence, and transform their countries into something like Iran and Taliban Afghanistan, Obama is a problem.

So the Saudis are doing what I’ve been telling the Obama administration to do for 2.5 years: Form an alliance opposing revolutionary Islamism. Of course, the Saudis won’t include Israel (at least publicly) and they won’t get Europe, but at the moment they’re all we’ve got.

This was completely predictable.

Some weeks ago, Nawaf Obaid, who speaks for the Saudi government, in an informal and deniable way, of course, voiced the Saudis’ anger and disappointment with a U.S. government that fails to fight against revolutionary Islamism and protect it from Iran.

I’ve been writing about this split for two years and now it has happened. The thing is that the Saudis are right and Obama is wrong. It helped overthrow the Egyptian regime and was ready to help bring down the government in Bahrain. The Saudis have had enough. The Jordanians would do the same if they could, as would Israel.

And there are plenty of countries in South America, Central Europe, and Asia that also feel this U.S. government has let them down.

Wasn’t this the U.S. government that was going to win over the Muslims, make the Arabs love America, and make the United States popular again?

Saudi Arabia has plenty of shortcomings. It won’t even let women drive! But at least it won’t let Tehran and the Muslim Brotherhood get in the region’s driver’s seat.



http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/2011/05/27/and-the-new-leader-of-the-free-world-is-saudi-arabia/?singlepage=true

Syrian rebels asked Israel for help

 

Sunday, May 29, 2011 | Ryan Jones

 

Pro-democracy activists and rebels in Syria recently asked Israel, their nation's worst enemy, to come to their aid, according to an Israeli government official.

Ayoub Kara, the Likud minister for development in the Galilee and Negev regions, told a gathering in Beersheva on Saturday that he had been personally approached by the Syrian protestors.
"The Syrian opposition asked for my help because of my connections," said Kara. "They wanted me to go to the [Israeli] government for help, that we would ask the UN, the US and the EU to go against [Syrian dictator Bashar] Assad."

To Kara's disappointment, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu turned down the request, as he did not want Israel to be seen as directly interfering in the internal matters of neighboring Arab states.
If true, Kara's account reveals that even though most Arabs in the region are raised to view Israel as a hateful enemy and the Jews as bloodthirsty monsters, many of them know better.

These Syrians would not be the first Arabs to turn to Israel and the Jews for aid, espeicially when it came to fighting for their freedom.

Most famously, Israel fought alongside the Christians of southern Lebanon against the tyrannical Muslim forces in that country for 15 years. The alliances between the Israeli army and the South Lebanon Army (SLA) was an often ignored aspect of the much-maligned Israeli-controlled southern Lebanon security zone.


http://www.israeltoday.co.il/tabid/178/nid/22806/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Couple guilty of assisting terrorism

 

Hezbollah was to be cash recipient

BY ERICA BLAKE
BLADE STAFF WRITER

Toledoans Hor Akl and his wife, Amera, were caught trying to conceal $200,000 inside a vehicle they had planned to send to Lebanon and the terror group Hezbollah, which is pledged to the destruction of Israel. THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Using latex gloves, plastic wrap, and fragrant insect repellent sticks, Hor Akl and his wife, Amera, worked to bundle about $200,000 to conceal it inside a vehicle they planned to ship to Lebanon, an assistant U.S. attorney said Monday.
The money, he added, was headed to a known terrorist group, Hezbollah.

The Toledo couple pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Monday to charges that they conspired to smuggle money to a terrorist group overseas. As part of their negotiated pleas, each will be sentenced to time in prison.

“Two hundred thousand dollars was the initial installment,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said, noting that the couple agreed to transport $1 million, of which about $200,000 would be kept by them as a fee.

Hor Akl pleaded guilty to five counts pertaining to conspiracy and interstate commerce in support of terrorism as well as bankruptcy fraud. He could be sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

His wife, Amera Akl, pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization. She faces nearly four years in prison when sentenced.

As part of the plea agreements, an arson charge that would have carried a 10-year prison sentence was dropped against Hor Akl, and two charges, including an arson-related charge, were dropped against his wife.

They each left the Toledo courtroom Monday without comment after the hearing.

The pair were charged in June, 2010, in a 36-page indictment filed in U.S. District Court. It alleged they “did knowingly combine, conspire, and agree” to aid the terrorist group Hezbollah. They are alleged to have sent money and supplies to a foreign terrorist organization beginning on Aug. 30, 2009.

“Money is the lifeblood of terrorist organizations, and stopping the flow is a key component to choking off these organizations,” U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach, who is based in Cleveland, said in a prepared statement e-mailed to The Blade.

According to court documents filed in the case, Hor Akl said that he spoke to his wife about transporting funds and that he personally had brought money to Lebanon in previous visits. Court records also indicate that he said he understood that the transported funds would go to “terrorists” targeting Israel.

In March, 2010, Hor Akl returned to Lebanon during which time his wife said she had spoken to her husband and said he would be meeting with a high-level Hezbollah official, court documents said.

The couple were arrested June 3, 2010, after an eight-month federal investigation. According to court documents, a government source entered the Akl residence with $200,000 provided by the FBI. Agents found the couple in their home wearing latex gloves and in possession of the money and automotive accessories, plastic wrap, and duct tape, while they prepared to hide the cash in the accessories.

Recorded conversations

Mr. Herdman said that evidence in the case included recorded conversations as well as details obtained by an informant.

Counts one and two, pertaining to conspiracy and interstate commerce in support of terrorism, named both the husband and his wife.

On counts three, four, and five, Hor Akl was charged with defrauding creditors, making false statements under oath, and fraudulently transferring or concealing property as it related to a bankruptcy filed in August, 2008. Count six, which will be dismissed at sentencing, alleged the two of them collected an insurance claim in early 2002 after allegedly setting a 1998 Jeep Cherokee on fire.

U.S. District Court Judge James Carr, who presided over the plea, noted that as part of the signed plea agreements, he was bound to sentence the couple within agreed upon guidelines. He set Amera Akl’s sentencing for June 20 where she faces between 37 and 46 months.

Hor Akl faces between 70 and 87 months. No sentencing date for him was set.

Because of good time credit allotted in federal prison sentencing, each could serve less time in prison than their sentence. Amera Akl’s Detroit-based attorney, Sanford Schulman, said that the couple’s children will fall under the care of various family members while they are incarcerated. He added that the wife requested an early sentencing date so that she could begin serving her sentence and there would be less time when both parents are behind bars.

Additional details would be worked out at the sentencing, he added.

‘In the same direction’

Judge Carr noted that both defendants had to choose to enter guilty pleas or proceed to trial. He said that per conditions of the agreements, the couple were “bound to proceed in the same direction” and that one could not choose to enter a plea without the other.

Also as part of the deal, the couple would forfeit $7,140.40 as well as a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer, which was to be used to smuggle the cash, according to the indictment.

Prior to entering the plea, Mr. Schulman withdrew a series of motions that had been filed recently. Included was a motion to dismiss the charges “due to outrageous governmental conduct.”

After the hearing, Mr. Schulman said his client’s story was outlined in the 38-page motion, but she chose to enter a plea because “she wanted it over.”

“It was 40 years down to three years. I probably would have taken the deal myself,” he said.

In the motion withdrawn yesterday, Mr. Schulman outlined the months during the investigation. He said there had been no evidence that the couple previously had been involved in “assisting or even associating with a known terrorist organization.”

He added that the government had no need to send an informant to stage a terrorist transaction.

“I don’t know if they caught the bad guy today, but they got what they wanted,” he said.

Attorney David Doughten, who with Jeff Helmick represented Hor Akl, said after the hearing Monday that the plea had been “appropriate” based on the facts of the case.

“He was treated fairly by the government,” Mr. Doughten said. “… It was an accurate plea reflecting the facts of the case.”

The judge allowed the couple to continue living in separate houses on bond, but extended the time they could spend together with their three children to between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., seven days a week. Both remain on electronic monitoring and an adult custodian must be present at all times.

“This case demonstrates the continued effort by the FBI and our Joint Terrorism Task Forces to deny financing and support to those terrorist organizations that present a threat to the United States,” said Stephen Anthony, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Cleveland Division, in a prepared statement e-mailed to The Blade.

Contact Erica Blake at: eblake@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.

Memorial Day, 2011

 

 twg2a PitBull

What is the real meaning of Memorial Day?   If you look at the history of Memorial Day you will see that it was a day of remembrance for those who died in our nation’s service. No one is really sure who exactly came up with the concept but it dates back to the Civil War, when organized groups of women placed flowers on the graves of those who died in battle. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No.11, and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. Today, it is celebrated in every state on the last Monday in May as passed by Congress (National Holiday Act of 1971).  It is sad to admit that we have not done a better job of educating our young ones as to the real reason this holiday came to be. Today, Memorial Day Weekend is a three day weekend to go the lake and party, or for department stores to advertise big sales events. We need to get back to recognizing those who gave their lives for this great nation.  On Monday, May 30, 2011, please remember all of those men and women who have died serving our country in all wars since the Civil War. I would also encourage you to remember all of those who have died protecting our country here at home, the First Responders (Police, Fire and EMS Workers) who have died in the line of duty. This includes the 343 members of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) who gave their lives on the morning of September 11, 2001.    Take a few moments Monday and call someone you know who serves in one of the branches of our Armed Services and let them know how much it means to your freedom for them serving our country.  Be safe and enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend. God Bless Our Troops. God Bless America. http://twg2a.wordpress.com/2011/05/28/memorial-day-2011/