TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – A Christian protest of Algeria’s church closures resulted in an order on Sunday (Oct. 13) to seal the church building of the head of the umbrella group of Protestant churches, the leader said. Salah Chalah, head of the Protestant Church of Algeria umbrella group (l’Église Protestante d’Algérie, or EPA), […]
Peaceful Sit-In Provokes Order to Close Church in Algeria, Christian Leader Says
Head of EPA receives notice that his congregation’s building is targeted.
October 14, 2019 By - Leave a Comment
Christians in Algeria Hit with More Church Closures
Police seal building without advance notice.
September 26, 2019 By - Leave a Comment
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – Authorities today sealed shut a church building in Tigzirt, Algeria, two days after shutting another building serving two churches without prior notice, sources said. Acting on orders from the governor of Tizi-Ouzou Province, eight police officers arrived at 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday (Sept. 24) at the Church of Boghni […]
After Christians in Algeria Prevented Church Closure, Authorities Seal It Shut
Officials threaten to imprison property owners of two churches.
September 3, 2019 By - Leave a Comment
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – After Christians fended off an attempt to close a church building in Algeria on Aug. 26, gendarmes arrived early Monday morning (Sept. 2) and sealed it shut, sources said. Church leaders and their attorney had asserted that the order from the head of Bejaia Province to close the church in […]
Church in Algeria Fends Off Authorities’ Attempt to Close It
Gendarmerie show up at worship site; Christians refuse to leave.
August 27, 2019 By - Leave a Comment
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – A brigade of gendarmerie showed up at an evangelical worship site in Algeria on Monday (Aug. 26) to execute the latest of several church closure orders from provincial authorities, but Christian leaders thwarted the attempt. When Akbou gendarmerie parked their vehicles at 9:30 a.m. at the church courtyard in Ighzer […]
As Church Worships, Police in Algeria Arrive to Seal Building
Congregation initially refuses to leave.
August 7, 2019 By - 2 Comments
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – Interrupting a worship service, police on Tuesday (Aug. 6) sealed a church building in north-central Algeria, less than three months after locking shut another site in the same area. “I am deeply saddened by so much injustice – it breaks my heart,” pastor Messaoud Takilt told Morning Star News. “This […]
New Christian in Algeria Sentenced for ‘Organizing Worship’ in His Home
Separately, another judge fines owner of land where church was meeting in a tent.
June 25, 2019 By - Leave a Comment
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – A judge on June 16 handed a Christian father of two in northwest Algeria a suspended prison sentence and a hefty fine for holding worship at his house, four days before another judge fined the owner of land that a church uses. Prosecutors had sought a six-month prison sentence and […]
Another Church Building Sealed Shut in Algeria
Non-Muslim places of worship continue to be targeted.
May 23, 2019 By - 1 Comment
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – Authorities in north-central Algeria sealed shut another church building on Wednesday (May 22), closing it and its Bible school, Christian leaders said. Citing a law that requires authorization for non-Muslim places of worship, gendarmes locked the doors of the evangelical church building in Boudjima, 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of […]
Faith Costs Christian in Algeria His Family, Livelihood
Wife pressured to file charges against him of ‘undermining Islam.’
January 9, 2019 By - 1 Comment
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – A 32-year-old convert in Algeria has not seen much of his two young daughters since his wife divorced him and charged him with undermining Islam more than two years ago. Ahmed Beghal (name changed for security reasons) has legal rights to visit his daughters, ages 4 and 6, but his […]
Authorities Order Closure of another Church Building in Algeria
Local officials have been fighting its presence since 2016.
January 2, 2019 By - 1 Comment
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – The official notice that a village pastor in Algeria received on Sunday (Dec. 30) confirmed what he had heard – his church had been ordered to close. Pastor Rabah Messaoudi had won a legal battle in 2017 after local officials in the Muslim country tried to close his church in […]
Christians in Algeria Acquitted of Conversion Charge
Muslim wife of convert pressured to file accusation, husband says.
December 26, 2018 By - Leave a Comment
TIZI-OUZOU, Algeria (Morning Star News) – Five Christians in Algeria were acquitted on Tuesday (Dec. 25) of the charge of inciting a Muslim to change her religion, sources said. A judge at the court of Bouira acquitted Rachid Ouali, whose Muslim wife had filed the charges against him. Ouali, his friend Ali Laarchi, Laarchi’s wife and […]