Tag: Bejaia

Algeria closes another Protestant church

October 22, 2018 Algeria 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 . . . Read More

Algeria: Two Christian cemeteries vandalised

September 14, 2018 Algeria 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 . . . Read More

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

July 16, 2018 Algeria 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 . . . 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

‘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

‘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

Algerian Christian on hunger strike after parole rejected

October 11, 2017 Algeria Algeria, Bejaia, Blasphemy, Constantine, Jijel, Kabylie, MAK, Setif, Slimane Bouhafs

An Algerian court has rejected a parole application for Slimane Bouhafs, an Algerian Christian jailed for five years for blasphemy in September 2016, despite his deteriorating health. Bouhafs heard the news on 2 October while in prison in the coastal city of Jijel, 300km east of the capital, Algiers, and . . . Read More

Jailed Algerian Christian receives partial presidential pardon

July 12, 2017 Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Bejaia, Berbers, Blasphemy, Constantine, Jijel, Kabylie, MAK, Setif, Slimane Bouhafs, Tizi Ouzou

A Christian imprisoned for three years for “insulting Islam and the prophet Muhammad” in his social media posts has received a partial presidential pardon. Slimane Bouhafs, who converted to Christianity from Islam in 1997, was arrested almost a year ago (31 July 2016) for posting a message on social media . . . Read More

Fears for imprisoned Algerian Christian as Ramadan begins

May 26, 2017 Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Bejaia, Berbers, Constantine, Jijel, Kabylie, MAK, Ramadan, Setif, Slimane Bouhafs

As Ramadan begins, the daughter of an Algerian Christian serving three years in jail for “insulting Islam and the prophet Muhammad” on Facebook says she’s worried about the abuse her father could suffer after he was transferred to a third different prison. Slimane Bouhafs, who is eight months into his . . . Read More

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