The fact that imam Sabri Ikrime, whose hearing will be held today, November 18, 2025, at 13:00 in Israel’s Occupation Courts, is being tried on allegations that have no legal basis is a serious interference and violation of the right to worship, the greatest freedom of Muslims living in the holy land.
Sheikh Ikrime is a generous man who not only serves as an imam but also as a Leader of Opinion. He has been subjected to systematic oppression, racism, and radical persecution by Israel, and despite his advanced age, he has been detained numerous times, arrested numerous times, and placed under house arrest.
He was imprisoned, his residence was stoned, and extremist groups and extremists called for his house to be burned and demolished. While Israeli police took no action against him regarding these attacks, legal action was taken against him for allegedly inciting violence under false pretenses. The Israeli Ministry of the Interior requested the cancellalion of Sabrı Ekrime’s residency permit, and Israeli media, as if launching a witch hunt against imam Ekrime, launched publicalions designed to incite and incite hatred and resentment among the public. This situation became unbearable for Sheikh Ekrime, and he was even forced to change his residence.
With this unlawful judgment and the media’s consistent chain of slander, we believe the Israeli judiciary has restricted not just one imam, but all Muslims and their freedom of worship. The occupation courts demonstrate their inherently low moral standards by prosecuting an 87-year-old man, who serves as honorary imam for two billion Muslims, by placing the person who exposed the crime in the dock, not the perpetrator, in various recent cases.
We remind you that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that universal values and the freedom of worship of all communities are obligated to protect, and we call on the Israeli judiciary to immediately abandon its legal massacre and its efforts to destroy the freedom of worship of Muslims through opinion leaders.
Article 9 – Freedom of thought, conscience and religion: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.
