Washington D.C., Mar 19, 2013 / 01:01 am
Christians gathered in front of the Libyan Embassy in Washington, D.C., on March 14 to peacefully protest the recent detainment and torture of Copts in Libya.
One protestor, a Middle Eastern Christian, told CNA that the Libyan government holds Coptic Christians and "accuses them of evangelizing against Islam" for possessing Christian Bibles and icons, even though such items are permissible under Libyan law.
"I'm sorry to say, but in the Middle East, it's all starting to be the same," he continued, warning that similar persecution of Christians has also occurred in Egypt, Palestine and Lebanon.
The March 14 protest condemned the arrest and torture of dozens of Egyptian Copts in Libya, as well as the death of one of the Christians, Ezzat Hakim Atallah, on March 9 after ten days of torture at the hands of Libya's Preventive Security department in Tripoli.