Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir

Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir
Native name محمد الشيخ ولد امخيطير
Born 1985
Nationality Mauritanian
Occupation Engineer, freelance journalist, blogger
Known for Blogging, apostasy charge

Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir (Arabic: محمد الشيخ ولد امخيطير ) is a Mauritanian blogger and political prisoner. He was sentenced to death after he wrote an article about religion and the caste system in Mauritania. He is a designated prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.[1][2]

Mkhaitir was born into the Moulamines caste, commonly referred to as the blacksmith caste, which holds the second lowest social status in Mauritania. Before he was arrested on charges of apostasy he worked for SAMMA, a company partially owned by Kinross.[3]

Arrest and death sentence

On January 2, 2014, Mkhaitir was arrested in his home in the city of Nouadhibou, two days after he wrote an article titled “Religion, Religiosity and Craftsmen” on the website Aqlame critical of the prophet Muhammad's treatment of non-Arabs relating to the caste system in Mauritania.[3] Clerics issued a fatwa against him and demanded he be executed.[4] A businessman offered a 10,000 ouguiya reward for his death.[5] He was charged with apostasy under Article 306 of the Mauritanian criminal code, and subsequently sentenced to death by firing squad.[6][7] Mkhaitir would be the first person executed in Mauritania since 1987.[4] Despite repenting and saying shahada, the supreme court upheld his death sentence.[8]

Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council as a representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, Kacem El Ghazzali highlighted the case of Mkhaitir,[9] The Mauritanian ambassador to the UN HRC said Mkhaitir was arrested in order to protect him. The diplomat also reportedly insisted "there is no need to talk about the death penalty"[10][11]

The court of appeals heard the case on April 1, 2016. The verdict was upheld but sent the case to Mauritania's supreme court. On January 31, 2017, Mauritania’s supreme court heard the case, and returned it to the court of appeals.[12] Upon appealing the case to the Supreme Court, protestors gathered in Nouakchott demanding his execution.[3][13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Document". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  2. ↑ "Originally Sentenced to Death, a Blogger Goes Before Mauritania’s Supreme Court". Global Voices Advocacy. 2017-01-29. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  3. 1 2 3 "In Mauritania, a blogger faces the death penalty for insulting Islam". Newsweek. 2016-12-19. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  4. 1 2 "Mauritanian clerics urge for blogger's death penalty to be applied". Reuters. 2016-11-13. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  5. ↑ "Enforcement Of Shari'a Law In The Muslim World For Insulting Islam, Prophet Muhammad: A Review Of Recent Arrests, Imprisonment, Flogging, Death Sentences". MEMRI - The Middle East Media Research Institute. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  6. ↑ "Mohammed Shaikh Ould Mohammed Ould Mkhaitir | Freedom Now". www.freedom-now.org. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  7. ↑ "In Mauritania, blogger sentenced to death for apostasy - Committee to Protect Journalists". cpj.org. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  8. ↑ "Millions of people rallied to the support of Raif Badawi – who will". The Independent. 2015-08-21. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  9. ↑ http://iheu.org/iheu-laments-human-rights-council-member-states-who-imprison-blasphemers/
  10. ↑ http://iheu.org/iheu-briefing-on-mohamed-cheikh-ould-mkheitir-case/
  11. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/KacemOfficialPage/videos/644535792249334/?permPage=1
  12. ↑ "CNN Arabic - رغم تقديمه لتوبته.. مطالب في موريتانيا بإعدام كاتب بتهمة "الإساءة للرسول"". CNN Arabic (in Arabic). Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  13. ↑ africanews (2016-11-21), Muslim clerics urge for blogger's death penalty to be applied, retrieved 2017-03-19
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.