Tag: Tizi Ouzou

Algeria: Another Protestant church closed

August 16, 2019 Algeria Algeria, Churches, Kabylie, Protestant Church of Algeria, Tizi Ouzou

The key hole of a closed down church in Algeria is sealed with wax. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Algerian authorities closed a Protestant church in northern Tizi Ouzou province earlier this month, after shutting another church in the same area in May, reports Christian advocacy group Middle East Concern (MEC). Officers of the National Gendarmerie arrived on 6 August with orders from the province’s governor to seal the . . . Read More

Algeria: Christian family accused of ‘proselytism’ – hearing postponed

October 10, 2018 Algeria Algeria, Churches, Idir Hamdad, Kabylie, Minorities, Proselytism, Protestant Church of Algeria, Tizi Ouzou

Four Algerian Christians accused of proselytism will appear in court on 6 November, in Bouira, in the north-eastern region of Kabylie. They had been due to appear yesterday (9 October), but the hearing was postponed. The four, including three members of the same family, are all from the town of . . . Read More

Algerian ‘happy to be free at last’ after jail sentence and fine for carrying Christian items

July 10, 2018 Algeria Aïn Turk, Algeria, Algiers, Idir Hamdad, Mâatkas, Oran, Protestant Church of Algeria, Tizi Ouzou

Algerian Christian Idir Hamdad (World Watch Monitor)

An Algerian Christian given a jail sentence and a fine for carrying a Bible and other Christian items has been acquitted. Idir Hamdad, 29, had been convicted in absentia on 28 September 2017 (though he only learned about this five months later) and given the maximum sentence of six months . . . Read More

Algerian pastor ‘amazed’ as three churches told they can reopen

June 13, 2018 Algeria Aïn Turk, Algeria, Bejaia, Kabylie, Mâatkas, Oran, Protestant Church of Algeria, Tizi Ouzou

Three churches recently closed down by authorities in Algeria’s northern province of Oran have been told they can reopen. The three churches, located in Oran city, Ain Turk (30km west of Oran), and El Ayaida (35km east of Oran), were closed between November 2017 and February 2018. On Sunday, two . . . Read More

Algerian Christian’s fine for importing crucifix keyrings ‘ridiculous’, says lawyer

May 10, 2018 Algeria Algeria, Algiers, Idir Hamdad, Oran, Protestant Church of Algeria, Tizi Ouzou

A court in Algeria has overturned a prison sentence, but upheld a fine, against a Christian man convicted for carrying a Bible and other Christian items. Idir Hamdad, 29, had been convicted in absentia on 28 September 2017 (though he only learned about this five months later) and given the . . . Read More

Algeria: church-run nursery ordered to close

April 24, 2018 Algeria Algeria, Kabylie, Oran, Protestant Church of Algeria, Tizi Ouzou

Authorities in Algeria’s north-eastern city of Tizi-Ouzou, in the Kabylie region, have closed down a day-care centre for Christian children. The Early Childhood Home was established more than 10 years ago by Église Protestante du Plein Évangile (The Full Gospel Protestant Church), also known by its French acronym EPPETO. EPPETO . . . Read More

‘Finally my father is home’ – Slimane Bouhafs released after 18 months in jail

April 3, 2018 Algeria Algeria, Bejaia, Blasphemy, Constantine, Jijel, Kabylie, MAK, Religious freedom, Setif, Slimane Bouhafs, Tizi Ouzou

Slimane Bouhafs has been released after 18 months in prison for alleged blasphemy on Facebook. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The daughter of Slimane Bouhafs, an Algerian Christian who has spent the last 18 months in prison for insulting Islam and its prophet, has announced her father’s release. “Finally my father … has been allowed back to us,” his daughter, Tilelli, wrote on her Facebook page on Easter Saturday. “Thank . . . Read More

Algeria government denies church closures are discrimination

March 9, 2018 Algeria Aïn Turk, Algeria, Bejaia, Churches, Oran, Protestant Church of Algeria, Religious freedom, Tizi Ouzou

"Notre Dame d'Afrique", the Roman Catholic Basilica in Algiers, Algeria. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The Algerian Minister of Religious Affairs has denied discriminating against the country’s Christian minority by ordering the closure of several churches in recent months. The latest church closures took place last week, as two churches were sealed by police in the north-western city of Oran. A week beforehand, two more churches . . . Read More

Algeria: two more churches closed, others threatened

March 1, 2018 Algeria Aïn Turk, Algeria, Churches, Kabylie, North Africa, Oran, Proselytism, Protestant Church of Algeria, Religious freedom, Tizi Ouzou

Local authorities in Algeria’s north-western city of Oran have closed two more churches amidst growing pressure on Christians in the Maghreb country. The two churches – L’Oratoire (The Oratory) in Oran’s city centre, and a village church in Layayda (about 40km from Oran) – were sealed off by police on . . . Read More

‘Intensified campaign’ against Algeria’s churches

January 3, 2018 Algeria Aïn Turk, Algeria, Bejaia, Churches, Kabylie, Oran, Protestant Church of Algeria, Tizi Ouzou

Churches and individual Christians in Algeria have faced increased restrictions in recent months, raising concerns that these pressures signal a “coordinated campaign of intensified action against churches by the governing authorities”, according to Christian advocacy group Middle East Concern. On 19 December, three Christians were arrested in Chlef, 200km north-west . . . Read More

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