US missionaries face up to 10 years in Dubai jail

US missionaries face up to 10 years in Dubai jail
AGENCE PRESSE FRANCE

DUBAI, APRIL 3: Three young American missionaries who distributed Christian compact discs and videos on the streets of the Gulf Emirate of Dubai face five to 10 years in prison, newspapers reported today.

Charles Ashley Gearling, 28, will be put on trial for promoting Christianity, the Gulf News said.

Prosecutors have not completed investigations of the other two men arrested last month on one of Dubai’s busiest streets while handing out the material to passers-by.

All three have however been released on bail, the daily said.

Al-Khaleej daily said the trio would be jailed for five to 10 years if found guilty.Dubai Attorney General Ibrahim Bumelha told Gulf News the Americans had admitted belonging to a US missionary organisation and had come to the United Arab Emirates to promote Christianity among Arabs and Gulf nationals.

Their material made insulting comparisons between Chritianity and Islam, Bumelha said.

The US embassy in the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is one, has refused to confirm or deny the arrests.

Public facilities for Christian worship are permitted in the United Arab Emirates but Christians are strictly forbidden from evangelising among Muslims under Islamic law.