Six people are at risk of 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.
Some of the women and men concerned 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 calling for Christianity…” says arrested Seyfao M. in the released video excerpt.
According to The New Arab, any expression of views or principles “intended to overthrow the political, social or economic order of the state” could be punishable by death under the Libyan Penal Code.
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.
Quellen: The New Arab, “Guardian”, Youtube, Humans Rights Watch
