Two Christians Unlawfully Arrested in Ethiopia for “Crimes Against Islam”
by Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
ADDIS ABADA, ETHIOPIA (Worthy News)– International Christian Concern recently reported that two Christian men were arrested in separate incidents in Ethiopia.
The men were detained by local police for “crimes against Islam” even though no such crime can be found in Ethiopia’s penal code.
In late March, Alemlayehu Legese — a student at Dodola Mekane Yesus Bible School — was arrested by police in Dodola after admitting to having literature that described the history of Islam from a Christian perspective. When Legese left the literature in question to be professionally copied, a Muslim employee contacted police; Legese was soon imprisoned, but to date formal charges have yet to be filed against him.
In late May, Tamirat Woldegiorgis, a Christian living in Moyale Town, was arrested supposedly in connection with a previous sentence he served from 2010-2012 for “crimes against Islam” after allegedly writing “Jesus is Lord” in the notebook of a student attending a local madrassa.
Woldegiorgis was recently released after he paid $5,319 in bail and was scheduled for a court hearing in June.