The two American citizens have since been released and are out of the country. However, the six Libyan men and women remain in detention. If found guilty, they face the death penalty. Some of them belong to the Amazigh people (Berbers) and other non-Arab minorities.
Video recordings on the internet
The Libyan authorities have posted video footage on the internet in which all the accused confess to their crimes. There is a 22-year-old who says she converted to Christianity at age 15 and later became a missionary. An engineer and father says he became a Christian in 2017 and has since shared the gospel with others. He says he converted after a conversation with an American man and then joined a missionary group made up of Libyans and foreigners.
Strict laws
Article 1 of Libya's 2011 Constitutional Declaration states that "Islam is the state religion and the main source of legislation is Islamic jurisprudence (Sharia, ed.). The state guarantees non-Muslims the freedom to practice their religious rituals." Libyan criminal law prohibits apostasy, blasphemy and proselytizing. The six Libyan believers were accused of apparently spreading views that "seek to change the principles of the constitution or the social order". Books, tracts and other items for this purpose are also banned. Officially, the arrests were made to "stop an organized gang that wants to persuade people to leave Islam".
Read also: Libya: Pray for condemned convert Christian
Nigerian pastor imprisoned for almost two years
In July 2021, Nigerian pastor Femi Abraham Akinboye was arrested in Libya by an Islamist militia. Across the country, there are religious militias that police themselves, arresting and punishing people who go against their version of Islam. When Pastor Akinboye was arrested, he was in the process of applying for a permit to build a new church. Unlike the two Americans who were quickly released, Pastor Akinboye is still detained. Repeated appeals from human rights organizations and his family have so far yielded no results.
