(What a community
policeman told two Christians)
By Steve
Doughty and Andy
Dolan
Last updated at 1:19 AM on 02nd June 2008
Two Christian preachers were stopped from handing
out Bible extracts by police because they were in a Muslim area, it was claimed
yesterday.
They say they were told by a Muslim police
community support officer that they could not preach there and that attempting
to convert Muslims to Christianity was a hate crime.
The community officer is also said to have told
the two men: 'You have been warned. If you come back here and get beat up,
well, you have been warned.'
A police constable who was present during the
incident in the Alum Rock area of
It comes amid growing concern over the development
of Islamic 'no-go areas'.
The preachers, Americans Arthur Cunningham and
Joseph Abraham, are demanding an apology and compensation from West Midlands
Police.
They say their treatment breaks the Human Rights
Act, which guarantees freedom of religious expression.
The preachers, who have the backing of the
Christian Institute pressure group, say they will take the force to court for
breaching their human rights if they don't receive an apology.
They have accused the officer, PCSO Naeem Naguthney, of behaving in
an 'aggressive and threatening' manner. A complaint by their lawyers said he
interrupted as they spoke to Muslim youths about their beliefs.
Mr Abraham, 65, who was born a Muslim in
'He was very intimidating and it concerns me that
somebody holding his views can become a police officer, albeit at PCSO level.'
Mr Cunningham, 48, a fellow American Baptist missionary,
said: 'He realised we were Americans and then started
ranting at us about George Bush and American foreign policy.
'He said we were in a Muslim area and were not
allowed to spread our Christian message. He said he was going to take us to the
police station.'
Mr Cunningham added: 'I am dumfounded that the police seem so
nonchalant. They seem content not to make it clear that what we were doing was
perfectly legal. This is a free country and to suggest we were guilty of a hate
crime for spreading God's word is outrageous.'
According to a complaint by the men's lawyers, Mr Naguthney summoned two other
officers in support, one of whom, a full constable, is said to have told the
men not to return to the area.
Mr Naguthney, 30, was recruited as
a community support officer last year after being unemployed for eight months.
Earlier this year, he had a prominent role at a conference
to launch the
Mr Naguthney declined to discuss
the row.
His brother, Nadeem,
said: 'Naeem is a community man,
that is why he joined the police.'
The
A senior Church of England bishop, the Right
Reverend Michael Nazir-Ali, warned recently that it
is hard for non-Muslims to live and work in some areas where radicals and
clerics are trying to impose an Islamic character.
A West Midlands Police spokesman said an
investigation into the complaint had concluded that the PCSO had acted 'with
the best of intentions' when he 'intervened to diffuse a heated argument between
two groups of men'.
A statement added: 'Following this investigation,
the PCSO has been offered guidance about what constitutes a hate crime and
advice on communication style.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1023483/You-preach-Bible-Muslim-area.html