5/3/2024 Algeria (Worldwide Christian Concern) — Pastor Youssef Ourahmane of Algeria is dealing with a yr of imprisonment after the Tizi Ouzou Court docket of Appeals upheld his conviction on Thursday. Authorities charged Ourahmane with practising “unauthorized worship” in his position as vp of the Evangelical Protestant Affiliation of Algeria (EPA) and his service as senior pastor and overseer of a number of church buildings and Bible colleges in Algeria.
Pastor Ourahmane is a convert from Islam and has served the Christian group of Algeria for greater than 30 years.
In March 2023, authorities investigated Pastor Ourahmane after a couple of Christians stayed at a church compound underneath his supervision throughout a faculty vacation. The compound features a small church constructing that Algerian officers closed in 2019. Regardless of failing to inform the pastor, authorities authorities determined to analyze Pastor Ourahmane for conducting worship in an unauthorized location.
In September 2023, Ourahmane realized of his courtroom listening to and conviction in absentia of two years imprisonment and a fantastic of roughly $725. In November 2023, his sentence was lowered to at least one yr after the pastor appealed.
The focused harassment of Pastor Ourahmane is nothing new for Algerian Christians. Regardless of having existed in Algeria for hundreds of years, the federal government views Christianity as a menace to the Algerian Islamic id. Authorities are making each try to control the church into non-existence.
Algeria is estimated to have between 20,000 and 200,000 Christians, with Protestants being the fastest-growing group. The EPA consists of 45 church buildings unfold throughout the nation, most of which have been closed by the Algerian authorities.
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“Well bless their hearts.”
