Because their religious belief is considered a criminal offense in Libya, six women and men are now threatened with execution in the North African country.
Six people face execution in North African Libya. They are accused of converting to Christianity and proselytizing, as the UK-based Guardian reports.
These actions were aimed at “getting people to leave Islam,” the Libyan Internal Security Agency (ISA) is quoted as saying in a statement released this week. It also spoke of “targeted gang action” which should be stopped.
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Some of the women and men affected are members of ethnic minorities in Libya and were arrested by security forces in March of this year, according to the London-based portal “The New Arab”.
A video posted by the ISA via Youtube appears to show one of the detainees. He was filmed with his face defaced and confessed to trying to persuade others to convert to Christianity: “I was born in 1977 and arrested by the Department of Homeland Security for converting to Christianity. I joined a group by Libyans and foreigners inside Libya who called for Christianity…” says the arrested man Seyfao M. in the published video excerpt.
According to The New Arab, under Libya’s penal code, any expression of views or principles “intended to overthrow the political, social or economic order of the state” could be punishable by death.
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As early as April, the organization Human Rights Watch called for a reform of the penal code and “a redefinition of criminal offenses in order to enable the peaceful exercise of the right to express opinions, to assemble and to found associations” in the future.
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Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
