Algerian Professor Gets 3-Year Jail Term for Offending Islam

ALGIERS, ALGERIA - An Algerian court on Thursday convicted a high-profile university professor specializing in Islam of offending the Muslim religion and sentenced him to three years in prison.

Said Djabelkhir was not immediately jailed and said he would appeal, according to a group of lawyers defending dozens of detained members of Algeria's pro-democracy movement. "I am a professor and not an imam," using "reason and critical thought," he was quoted in the press as saying as he left the courtroom. Another university professor, joined by a group of lawyers, had filed suit against Djabelkhir for Facebook posts they deemed offensive to Islam.