Rabat - A man was arrested in Fez on grounds that he converted to Christianity.
According to sources from the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) quoted by Telquel magazine, the alleged Christian convert was approached by two police officers while in the city's train station.
The police started asking him questions while searching his bag, in which they found a Bible and other Christianity-related books, the source said.
Suspected of proselytizing, the man was then taken to the police station for interrogation.
The same source added that the man has been released after being interrogated for eleven hours, mainly about his beliefs, his movements and the organization that would pay for his travels.
The Moroccan constitution guarantees religious freedom, but any attempt to shake the faith of Muslims is punished according to the Moroccan Penal Code.
In accordance with Article 220 of the Moroccan Penal Code, a proselytizer may face “six months to three years prison and a fine of 100 to 500 Dirhams” for using the “means of seduction in order to convert” a Muslim “to another religion, either by exploiting his/her weakness or his/her needs, or using for these purposes education, health, asylums and orphanage institutions.”