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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\".<\/p>\n