August (Web-only) 2003

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Canadian evangelical on trial in Lebanon for spying
Bruce Balfour went to Lebanon to replant the country's biblical cedars. He's now on trial on charges of spying for Israel against Hizbollah guerrillas and the Lebanese army.

"I expect him to be found innocent because there is no serious evidence against him," his lawyer, Ibrahim al-Hariri, told Reuters. "This is not a judicial trial, it is ideological."

The trial has been postponed several times since his July 10 arrest as the prosecution has attempted to "find" witnesses.

Many officials in the Canadian government and many Canadian evangelicals are outraged by the arrest. (Balfour's organization has many past news articles on its site)

The next hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday, when the military tribunal is expected to issue a verdict. Balfour faces three to 15 years of hard labor.

Andrei Okhotin likely to go free this week
Meanwhile, similarly trumped up charges against Harvard Divinity School student and Baptist missionary Andrew Okhotin continue to be discussed in a Moscow court.

The 28-year-old is charged with smuggling $48,000 into the country. He declared the money—intended for local Baptist churches and ministries—on a form, but mistakenly walked down the wrong customs corridor at the airport. He says customs agents only arrested him after he refused their demands for bribes of $10,000 and $5,000.

The prosecution's argument is so weak that it backed down from seeking a five-year sentence. Yesterday, prosecutors asked only for a six-month suspended sentence.

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A verdict is expected tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. (2 a.m. EST).

No exodus yet The Ten Commandments showdown at the Alabama judicial building yesterday sounds a bit anticlimactic. Nearly two dozen protesters supporting ...