Moroccan Christian Serving 15 Years for Faith

The following story is derived from ICC (International Christian Concern) http://www.persecution.org. ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church.
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Moroccan Christian Serving 15 Years for Faith

Case to be included in congressional hearing

 

Washington, D.C. (June 17, 2010) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Jamaa Ait Bakrim is currently imprisoned for “proselytizing,” a charge punishable under Moroccan law.

 

Jamaa Ait Bakrim, prisoner number 26574, is currently in Prison Centrale, located in Kenitra, Morocco. He has been there since 2005 when he was sentenced to 15 years for “proselytism” and “destruction of goods of others.” “This second charge is a common legal tactic of creating a separate infraction to lengthen the sentence and shift attention from the actual issue of religion,” said a Moroccan Christian whose name is withheld for security reasons.

 

The charge of proselytization is derived from Article 220 of Moroccan Criminal Law which makes it illegal to “shake the faith of a Muslim.” “The charge of ‘proselytization’ is a specific concern because the wide range of applications that are used to suppress other religions,” stated the Moroccan source. This is the same official charge that has led to the deportation of many foreigners from Morocco in the past three months.

 

In 1993 Jamaa returned to his Moroccan village after a trip to Europe where he converted to Christianity. In 1994 he spent seven months in the mental hospital of Inezgane for proselytizing. In 1996 he was condemned to one year, this time in jail, for putting up a Christian cross in public. In 2001 he was prosecuted again, leading to the current sentence he has been serving since 2005.

 

A congressional hearing convened by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) will take place today on the issue of Moroccan religious freedom and the recent deportation of foreigners.

 

ICC’s Regional Manager, Logan Maurer, stated, “This wrongful imprisonment exposes the Moroccan government’s duplicity when it comes to religious freedom. They talk one way to the West, but their own people experience a very different reality. Morocco must be brought to account—to date a country that we give $650 million a year in aid money is has been able to hide their religious persecution. I look forward to today’s hearing to bring this issue to light.”

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Take care and God Bless!