Kemal Timur, 32, has been accused by the Criminal Court of Peace of having a law in the Turkish Penal Code which punishes anyone who insults the books, prophets or values of a religion. His trial, set for Jan. 30, was postponed until March 27, after the plaintiffs failed to appear in court.
Timur was able to present his case to the court, affirming that he never insulted Islam, but only distributed copies of the New Testament without discussing his Christian faith with people. If anyone wishes to discuss the faith with him, he agrees to meet him on another occasion.
Last May 1 he was arrested on a charge that he had insulted Islam and Mohammed. In December he learned that a case had been brought against him five months earlier, and that there were three accusers, two of whom he had never seen or spoken to.
Only about 0.2% of Turkey´s 65 million inhabitants are Christian. The constitution affirms the separation of religion and state and guarantees freedom of belief and worship. But Islam, which is professed by 99% of the population, is, in fact, the state religion, Fides said.
