Say what you will about Christians, at least they wouldn’t kill you for your contrarian beliefs; not in the past few centuries anyway.

A certain Mauritanian journalist is having a really crappy holidays, as a court in his homeland has sentenced him to death, under Islamic Sharia law which is in effect in Mauritania.

Sharia contains the strictest set of laws guarding the Islamic religion, and it clamps down mercilessly on blasphemy, real or perceived. It also violates fundamental human rights in more ways than one.

Mohammed Cheikh Ould Mohamed was convicted on apostasy, for criticising Prophet Mohammed in an article he published over a year ago. In it, he criticised some of the decisions taken by the holy prophet during the holy wars.

He was arrested on January 2nd this year, his trial just commencing within the past week, culminating in his sentence on Christmas Day! Sure Muslims don’t celebrate Christmas but there must be some hidden irony in there.

He is reported to have fainted when the sentence was read, having pled not guilty to the charge; insisting all along that it was not his intention to harm the prophet.

A report by the CPJ website (an organisation christened Committee to Protect Journalists) notes local reportage on the issue is biased towards the law, Mohamed has been denounced by his family and his lawyer and only mandated public defenders have taken his case. The local populace are also said to have cheered at the sentence, chanting that rote affirmation that gets on my nerves all the time: ‘Allahu Akbar’.

He is entitled to an appeal, but such a course is doubtful. It is a sad day when a journalist has to die for their opinions, and these are not even the most controversial of opinions.

What exactly is it about that prophet Mohammed that speaking ‘perceived’ evil of him evokes such harsh retribution? Is it because perhaps he was a bloodthirsty hoodlum like the histories portray, and acknowledging it might knock down some people’s carefully structured belief system?

It baffles my mind, and frankly that Sharia law is not fit to govern humans.