Moroccan Convert To Spend 15 Years In Jail For Being A Christian

One doesn't think of Morocco as a terribly hard line Islamist state, but it's no better than any of the other nations in that whole region as far as freedom of religion goes. In fact, I'd venture to say that the ability to worship freely in any religion (other than Islam) is impossible anywhere outside of the Western world, or at least in Muslim majority countries. On the other hand, it's very ironic that Muslims are graciously granted freedom of religion in the West and are allowed to openly proselytize, when the same thing can land a Christian in jail in the Middle East and elsewhere.

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Ask Moroccan Christian convert 46-year-old Jamaa Ait Bakrim about freedom of religion. He has been languishing in jail for almost five years becauseDecember will be his fifth anniversary, and he has ten more years to go all because he believes in Jesus and not Mohammad, and had the audacity to speak about it.

An outspoken Christian convert, Bakrim was sentenced to 15 years prison for “proselytizing” and destroying “the goods of others” in 2005 after burning two defunct utility poles located in front of his private business in a small town in south Morocco.

Advocates and Moroccan Christians said, however, that the severity of his sentence in relation to his misdemeanor shows that authorities were determined to put him behind bars because he persistently spoke about his faith.

“He became a Christian and didn’t keep it to himself,” said a Moroccan Christian and host for Al Hayat Television who goes only by his first name, Rachid, for security reasons. “He shared it with people around him. In Morocco, and this happened to me personally, if you become a Christian you may be persecuted by your family. If you keep it to yourself, no one will bother you. If you share it with anyone else and start speaking about it, that’s another story.”

Rachid fled Morocco in 2005 due to mounting pressure on him and his family. He is a wanted man in his country, but he said it is time for people to start speaking up on behalf of Bakrim, whom he said has “zeal” for his faith and speaks openly about it even in prison.

“Our Moroccan brothers and sisters suffer, and we just assume things will be OK and will somehow change later by themselves,” said Rachid. “They will never change if we don’t bring it to international attention.”

Why shouldn't Christians be allowed to openly share their faith as Muslims do? Why should Muslims be able to actively proselytize and Christians not? And though I don't advocate proselytizing, per se, I see nothing wrong with sharing one's faith. Everyone should have that right, everywhere in the world, without the fear of landing in jail or being killed.

Although proselytizing under Article 220, can get you from six months to three years in prison, "destruction of the goods of others" can net you a whopping twenty years.

“Jamaa is a manifestation of a very inconvenient truth for Moroccan authorities: there are Moroccan converts to Christianity,” said Logan Maurer, a regional director at U.S.-based advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC). “The government wants to ignore this, suppress it, and when – as in Jamaa’s case – the problem won’t go away, they do whatever they can to silence it.”

Apparently Morocco is a signatory to Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which

affirms the right to manifest one’s faith in worship, observance, practice or teaching

but are obviously not adhering to.

There are only a pitiful 1,000 converted Christians in Morocco in a population of over 33 million, mostly Muslims, and like most if not all other nations in that region the government shamefully does not recognize them. As for foreign Christians living in Morocco:

Between March and June authorities expelled 128 foreign Christians in an effort to purge the country of any foreign Christian influences. In April nearly 7,000 Muslim religious leaders backed the deportations by signing a document describing the work of Christians within Morocco as “moral rape” and “religious terrorism.” The statement from the religious leaders came amid a nationwide mudslinging campaign geared to vilify Christians in Morocco for “proselytism” – widely perceived as bribing people to change their faith.

Hmmm. So since Dawaah is proselytism, does that mean that Muslims too are guilty of the same "moral rape" and "religious terrorism" as the Christians in Morocco? I guess so.

As for the converts in Morocco:

In the same time period, Moroccan authorities applied pressure on Moroccan converts to Christianity through interrogations, searches and arrests. Christians on the ground said that, although these have not continued, there is still a general sense that the government is increasingly intolerant of Christian activities.

“They are feeling very bad,” said Rachid. “I spoke to several of them, and they say things are getting worse…They don’t feel safe. They are under a lot of disappointment, and [they are] depressed because the government is putting all kinds of pressure on them.”

The sad thing is that Bakrim, after studying law and political science in Morocco went to Europe, and it was during that time he converted to Christianity. In 1993, knowing he would be persecuted as Christian in Morocco, while in the Netherlands he tried to apply for political asylum, but was denied. As soon as his visa expired he was deported. Back in Morocco his troubles started in 1995 when he spent seven months in prison for "proselytizing". Then in 1996 they actually sent him to a mental hospital, as if Christianity was some kind of mental disorder. He did not fare well during treatment.

The psychiatric treatment caused side-effects in his behavior and made it difficult for him to control his hands and legs for a period of time, sources told Compass.

He spent another year of his life in jail for publicly displaying a cross, and his troubles continued, because in spite of everything he remained as determined as ever to be a Christian.

“He has a zeal about his religion,” said Rachid. “He never denied his faith through all these things, and he even preached the gospel in prison and the psychiatric place where they held him … They tried to shut him [up], and they couldn’t.”

In 2001 Bakrim again attracted attention by painting crosses and writing Bible verses in public view at his place of business, which also served as his home, according to the French-language weekly. Between 2001 and 2005 he reportedly wrote to the municipality of Massa, asking officials to remove two wooden utility posts that were no longer in use, as they were blocking his business. When authorities didn’t respond, Bakrim burned them.

During his defense at the Agadir court in southern Morocco, Bakrim did not deny his Christian faith and refuted accusations that he had approached his neighbors in an attempt to “undermine their Muslim faith.”

The judge ruled that “the fact that Jamaa denies accusations of proselytism is inconsistent with his previous confession in his opening statement when he proclaimed he was the son of Christ, and that he wished that Moroccans would become Christians,” according to Le Journal Hebdo.

Bakrim did not appeal the court sentence. Though there have been other cases of Christians imprisoned for their faith, none of their sentences has been as long as Bakrim’s.

“They will just leave him in the prison so he dies spiritually and psychologically,” said Rachid. “Fifteen years is too much for anything they say he did, and Jamaa knows that. The authorities know he’s innocent. So probably they gave him this sentence so they can shut him [up] forever.”

Why do Muslims feel so threatened by other religions? Why can't they just let others worship as they please.