Church in Chains, August 8th, 2024 (excerpts)
On 2 July 2024 at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, a side event was held to raise the issue of the persecution of Christians by the Algerian government.
Pastor Youssef spoke via video link, explaining he has been involved with the church in Algeria for over 36 years and been Vice-President of the Algerian Protestant Church (EPA) since 2018.
He said there have been 54 court cases against members of the EPA in recent years and Christians handed prison sentences varying from 2 months to 5 years and many fines.
On 2 July 2023, without his knowledge or attending court, he was condemned to two years in prison for organising church activities without a licence. He is currently waiting to have his appeal heard by the Supreme Court. He is conscious that it would take time for the appeal to be heard.
Only one EPA member church is open (in the capital, Algiers) and he does not know how long it will be able to remain open. 46 churches affiliated with the EPA have been closed by the authorities and 6 or 7 unaffiliated churches have also closed their buildings.
Despite repeated attempts to register the EPA and its places of worship with the Ministry of the Interior, its office never confirms receipt of their applications and not a single church has yet been granted a permit.