Algeria

The family is the source of greatest pressure for Christians in Algeria, most of whom are converts from Muslim backgrounds. Pressure also comes from the law. A 2006 law, forbidding public assembly for purposes of practising a faith other than Islam, has created a more restrictive environment for Christians. This affects most Christian places of worship, except for Catholic churches and one Protestant church. In addition, Islamist movements such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb are increasingly making their presence felt.

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Algeria: Another Protestant church closed

August 16, 2019 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 […]

Algerian court orders reopening of bookshop managed by Christian

December 18, 2018 Aïn Turk, Algeria, Churches, Oran, Protestant Church of Algeria

Churches and individual Christians in Muslim-majority Algeria have faced increased restrictions in recent months. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A bookshop owned by a Christian in Algeria can reopen its doors following a court order, reports Christian advocacy group Middle East Concern (MEC). The court’s decision on 13 December annulled an earlier order by the Governor of Oran to close the bookshop in Ain Turk, 30km west of Oran, […]

Algeria: Christian family charged with ‘inciting a Muslim to change his religion’

December 4, 2018 Algeria, Churches, Kabylie, Minorities, Proselytism

A sign at the entrance of a mosque which was once a church.

Four Algerian Christians appeared in court last week, charged with “inciting a Muslim to change his religion” and “performing religious worship in an unauthorised place”, reports Middle East Concern (MEC). If found guilty they face to two to five years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million […]

Another Algerian church closed

November 23, 2018 Algeria, Churches, Protestant Church of Algeria

An Algerian court has ordered a church in the northern Tizi Ouzou province to close because it lacks the necessary permit, reports Christian advocacy group Middle East Concern (MEC). The closure of the church in Ait Djemaa is the latest in a string of closures of Protestant churches over the […]

Algeria closes another Protestant church

October 22, 2018 Algeria, Bejaia, Protestant Church of Algeria

Algerian police closed another church in the north-eastern province of Bejaia last week, reports Christian advocacy group Middle East Concern. On Tuesday (16 October) police officers closed and sealed the doors of the Protestant church in Azaghar, a village near Akbou, about 180km southeast of the capital Algiers. This follows […]

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

October 10, 2018 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 […]

Algeria: Two Christian cemeteries vandalised

September 14, 2018 Algeria, Bejaia, Constantine

More than 30 graves were desecrated at the La Reunion War Cemetery near Bejaia last week. (Photo: Facebook Services Archaeology and Heritage Association)

Two Christian cemeteries have been vandalised in Algeria in recent weeks, reports national news site Algerie Monde Infos. More than 30 graves were desecrated at the La Reunion War Cemetery in Oued Ghir, a town near the northern city of Bejaia, on Thursday night last week (6 September) by a […]

UN tells Algeria to ‘guarantee freedom of religion to all’ after church closures

July 31, 2018 Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algeria, Protestant Church of Algeria

The UN Human Rights Committee has urged the Algerian government to stop harassing its Christian minority, after several churches and other religious institutions were closed down in recent months. Since November 2017, six churches have been forcibly closed in the Maghreb country – three were later reopened – as well […]

Algerian government allows three churches to re-open in June, but now closes another

July 16, 2018 Aïn Turk, Algeria, Algiers, Bejaia, Mâatkas, Protestant Church of Algeria

In Algeria, the relief of the Protestant minority at the recent re-opening of three churches a month ago has been cut short, after another church was closed last week. On Wednesday (11 July), the building used by a Protestant church in the small town of Riki (8km from Akbou), in […]

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

July 10, 2018 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 […]

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