SAïd Djabelkhir will go to prison for having “offended the precepts of Islam”. Thursday, April 22, an Algiers court sentenced this renowned Algerian Islamologist, aged 53, to 3 years in prison. A harsh sentence which “shocked” one of his lawyers, Mr.e Moumen Chadi. The latter denounces a technical defect: “There is no proof. The file is empty. We were waiting for a release. The researcher specializing in Sufism for his part let it be known that he would continue his “fight for freedom of conscience”.
Questioned on leaving the court, Saïd Djabelkhir, also surprised by the heaviness of the verdict, told Agence France-Presse that he would appeal and go to cassation if necessary. However, he was not placed under a warrant of committal. “We have the misfortune of doing research in Algeria. But it is a fight that must continue for freedom of conscience, for freedom of opinion and for freedom of expression, ”he pleaded.
Simple “academic reflections”
“The fight for freedom of conscience is non-negotiable,” insisted Saïd Djabelkhir, a specialist in Sufism, a mystical and esoteric current of Islam. A graduate in Islamic sciences, he is the author of two well-known books dealing with religion. Prosecuted by seven lawyers and another academic for “insulting the precepts of Islam and Muslim rites”, he risked up to 5 years in prison. Said Djabelkhir is notably criticized for having written that the sacrifice of sheep – a Muslim tradition – existed before the advent of Islam, and for criticizing certain practices such as the marriage of prepubescent girls in certain Muslim societies.
Algerian law punishes with 3 to 5 years of imprisonment and / or a fine “whoever offends the prophet or denigrates the dogma or the precepts of Islam, whether by writing, drawing, declaration or any other means ”. During his trial on April 1, the Islamologist defended himself from having “attacked Islam”, the state religion in Algeria, assuring that he had only made part of “academic reflections” and that he was accused “by people who have no competence in matters of religion.”
A trial that divides in Algeria
In a recent interview with Agence France-Presse, he estimated that “a very great effort of new reflection on the founding texts of Islam is necessary because traditional readings no longer meet the expectations, needs and questions of the ‘modern man’. “The Wahhabis [qui se réclament d’un courant rigoriste de l’islam, NDLR], the Salafists want to impose on Muslims their reading of texts as being the absolute truth and this is what I never stop contesting through my writings ”, explained Saïd Djabelkhir, who has already been at the heart of several controversies with religious having a fundamentalist view of Islam.
His lawyers had argued in court that the complaint against him was inadmissible because it came from individuals and not the prosecution. The defense had also warned against “opening a breach” with this trial, which would turn the courts into a “space for religious debate.” Since the beginning of the case, Said Djabelkhir has garnered the support of many Algerian colleagues and politicians. But his trial split. Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. On the contrary, his detractors accuse him of denigrating verses from the Qur’an and the five pillars of Islam, such as the “Hajj,” the pilgrimage to Mecca.
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