By Moutaz Ali.
Tripoli, 7 November 2016:
The Benghazi branch of the General Administration for Criminal Investigation (also known as the Counter Crime Agency) says that it has arrested a local man who converted to Christianity. He is accused of proselytising on social media and denigrating Islam.
The arrest, announced made on the administration’s Facebook page, has been confirmed by its spokesman, Walid Arafi.
The agency says that the unnamed man, who apparently converted some time ago, was using social media to urge others to change their faith. It also says that he was in contact with a fellow convert in Morocco, named simply as Rashid, who was helping him.
It adds that it managed to track him down using the IP address of his computer.
Arafi would not name the person either or give futher details.
There is no mention about conversion in the 2011 Constitutional Declaration which acts as Libya’s interim constitution. It declares simply that Islam is the religion of Libya, the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Shari’a) and that non-Muslims are free to practice their faith.
However, conversion away from Islam is wholly unacceptable to most Libyans.
