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The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has expressed displeasure over a series of recent court decisions that seek to limit the religious rights of Christians in the North African country of Algeria.
USCIRF’s concern, expressed via a press release in late June, was made public after three separate court rulings against Christians in the majority Muslim country.
In March, Hamid Soudad, a 42-year-old Christian accused of insulting the prophet Mohammad, had a five-year prison sentence against him upheld by the Oran City Court of Justice. On June 6, Rachid Mohamed Seighir, pastor and bookstore owner, was sentenced to one year in prison by a court in Oran for “printing, storing or distributing materials” considered damaging to the Muslim faith. And an administrative court in Oran separately ordered that three Protestant churches that had been forcibly closed by the government in 2020 be sealed up. The order is currently being challenged in court.