Libyan government has visibly launched jihad against Christianity and according to AFP News, a French media outlet, a US citizen was arrested on April 12, 2023 by the authorities in Tripoli for Christian “proselytism”, which is an attempt to convert person to a certain set of beliefs.
The US citizen, Jeff Wilson was allegedly working as a teacher in a private school and the CEO and founder of a business consulting firm.
Libya’s Internal Security Agency announced on April 12, 2023 that an American had been arrested for “inciting our children to renounce Islam and convert to Christianity”.
Libya's Internal Security Service (ISA) had arrested #US citizen #Jeff_Wilson, CEO and founder of business consulting firm #LibyaBusiness, on charges of setting up a secret organization in Libya.
— The Libya Update (@TheLibyaUpdate) April 12, 2023
US State Department spokesperson told media that it was “aware of reports” that a citizen had been detained in Libya.
“The US Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no greater priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas”, the spokesperson said. “[T]he Department works to provide all appropriate assistance. The State Department’s Travel Advisory for Libya is Level 4 – Do Not Travel due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict”.
It may be mentioned here that Islam is the official state religion in Libya and while no law explicitly bans converting from Islam to Christianity or any other religion, “[p]roselytizing and the distribution or publication of information aimed at changing the country’s “social structure” is effectively illegal”, according to the State Department.
“According to one press report, the Special Deterrence Forces (SDF), a Salafist militia nominally aligned with the Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli, engaged in Islamic religious policing in the capital”, a 2021 State Department report said.
“According to human rights activists, the SDF continued to be involved in a number of arrests and detentions of individuals whom it accused of violating Islamic law. Human rights activists said freedom of conscience for converts to Christianity, atheists, and Muslims who deviated from Salafist interpretations of Islam was not respected”.
The agency also said that they had arrested a Libyan citizen for converting from Islam to Christianity. The citizen reportedly posted a video explaining his conversion on Facebook and said that a foreigner had been the one to convince him to convert.
According to a blog post, Muslims who convert to Christianity in Libya faces execution for apostacy.
Local news report said, a man was handed death penalty after converting from Islam to Christianity.
Details are rare, but Dhiaa al-Din Ahmed Miftah Balao – described as an information technology graduate – appears to have previously been a devoted Muslim and is said to have memorized the entire Qur’an. It’s unclear how his conversion to Christianity came to the attention of the authorities.
Reports say a court in Misrata ordered to repent and return to Islam. When he refused the court found him guilty of apostasy and the death sentence was announced on September 4, 2022.
The reports also say there’s a dispute about the law that was used to convict him. The relevant law (No 20 of 2016) was supposedly repealed in 2020 but there are questions as to whether the repeal was legally valid.
Meanwhile, according to Catholic news site Crux, Christians from sub-Saharan Africa face a toxic mix of racism and religious hostility.
