Christians in Algeria ask for continued prayer for Pastor Rachid Seighir, and his bookshop assistant Nouh Hamami, as their appeal hearing has been postponed to 16 May.
Pastor Rachid leads the Oran City church (L’Oratoire) and also owns a book and stationery shop, where Nouh Hamami works as a salesman.
On 27 February both were convicted in absentia of “proselytising,” as the bookshop contained books which were considered to “agitate the faith of Muslims.” An article in the law regulating non-Muslim worship criminalises “ … producing, storing, or disseminating printed documents, audiovisuals, or using any other means with the intent to undermine the faith of a Muslim.”
Police raided the bookshop in September 2017, finding Christian books, publications (including Bibles) and printing machines. The two Christians were sentenced to two years in prison and fined. Their appeal was scheduled for 18 April but the case has been postponed to 16 May.
Christians in Algeria ask for prayer:
- that the two Christians will know the peace of God and the comfort of the Holy Spirit
- for justice, that they will be acquitted on all charges in the appeal hearing
- for other Christians sentenced to prison in the past five momths for “blasphemy.”
- for the organised campaign against Christians and the Algerian church to cease,
- that those responsible for the persecution of Christians will know the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness and new life offered by Jesus.
