EVANGELICAL CONVERTS RECEIVE FINES, SUSPENDED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 000780

SIPDIS

DRL/IRF FOR COFSKY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF AG
SUBJECT: EVANGELICAL CONVERTS RECEIVE FINES, SUSPENDED
PRISON SENTENCE

REF: A. ALGIERS 625

B. ALGIERS 333

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Thomas F. Daughton;
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Two Algerian Christians, Rachid Seghir and
Djammal Dahmani, were convicted on July 2 of proselytizing
and illegally practicing a non-Muslim religion. The Algerian
court fined the defendants 100,000 dinars (1,540 USD) and
handed out six-month suspended prison sentences. Non-Muslim
religious leaders have publicly criticized the court's
decision and noted that several other trials against
Evangelicals are still pending, including the case of
Protestant convert Habiba Kouider. Meanwhile, the Algerian
press has continued to run negative stories on the
Evangelical movement, most recently in a July 7 full-page
article in a local French-language daily. According to the
Seventh Day Adventist Church in Algeria, official pressure on
Evangelicals is likely to increase in the near future. END
SUMMARY.

SAVE A PRAYER
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2. (U) A court in Tissemsilt sentenced two Algerian Christian
converts on July 2 to a six-month suspended prison term and
fined each 100,000 dinars (approx. 1,540 USD). The
defendants, Rachid Seghir and Djammal Dahmani, originally
faced two years in prison and fines of over 7,000 USD after
the same court convicted them in absentia in November 2007 of
proselytizing and illegally practicing a non-Muslim faith.
Algerian authorities charged the two Evangelical Christians
in 2007 after police discovered bibles in Seghir and
Dahmani's car at a routine check-point near Tissemsilt.
Algerian law provides for a maximum of five years in prison
and fines of up to 15,570 USD for violating Ordinance 06-03,
which prohibits proselytizing to Muslims and sets constraints
on non-Muslim worship. Seghir and Dahmani's lawyer, Khadidja
Khalfoun, told us that she plans to appeal the court's
decision.


3. (U) Mustapha Krim, the president of the Protestant Church
of Algeria, publicly criticized the court ruling and noted
that a half a dozen cases against Evangelicals were still
pending in Algerian courts. The Tiaret court responsible for
the case of Protestant convert Habiba Kouider (also
represented by Khadidja Khalfoun) has yet to render a
decision (ref A) and, according to other press reports,
another trial involving Seghir and three other evangelicals
is scheduled on July 15.

EVANGELICALS STILL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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4. (U) The Evangelical movement continues to receive negative
coverage in the Algerian press. A local French-language
daily, La Tribune, ran a full-page story on July 7 describing
the presence of Evangelicals in Algeria. The paper
characterized Western countries' ardent promotion of
religious freedom as a tool aimed at dividing Algerian
society and compared present-day Evangelists to missionaries
who arrived in Algeria during French colonial rule. At a
July 7 press conference to announce the agenda of his party's
national congress, the National Secretary of the opposition
Socialist Forces Front (FFS),Karim Tabbou, claimed that
"tons" of Bibles and other religious material have been
brought into Algeria through the port of Algiers and cited
evangelism as a social issue his party should address.
Tabbou said that converts like Habiba Kouider undermine
Algerian national unity. Mohamed Houdeibi, an MP from the
Islamist party Ennahda, was quoted in the Arabic daily
Echourouk el-Youmi on June 29 referring to proselytizing as a
campaign sponsored by foreign parties aimed at infiltrating
Algerian society.


5. (C) During a July 6 meeting with poloff, the president of
the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Algeria, Pierre Pechoux,
commented that the Tissemsilt court's July 2 ruling on the
Seghir/Dahmani case came as no surprise. Pechoux noted that

ALGIERS 00000780 002 OF 002


the trend in trials against Evangelicals has been to deliver
reduced sentences that impose fines rather than prison time.
That said, Pechoux did not view the decision in the
Tissemsilt case as a sign that the Algerian authorities were
softening their stance on evangelism. Pechoux said that he
expected prosecutions to continue and pressure on
Evangelicals to increase.

COMMENT
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6. (C) As we have reported (ref B),Algerian paranoia
surrounding Christian proselytizing greatly exaggerates the
actual size and presence of Christian churches in Algerian
society. The flurry generated by the Evangelical movement
reflects many Algerians' suspicion of such activities, which
some politicians are choosing to portray as interference in
the country's domestic affairs. Despite the fiery rhetoric,
Pierre Pechoux said he continues to have regular, cordial
meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Religious
Affairs and believed his contacts from the other official
churches in Algeria have had the same experience. Pechoux
added that Religious Affairs Minister Bouabdallah
Ghoulamallah invited him to attend the next meeting of an
inter-ministerial accreditation commission, which Pechoux
took as a goodwill gesture toward his church.
DAUGHTON