THE HAGUE, 30/10/09 - A criminal drug addict who is Muslim is, much to his own relief, allowed to stay in a Christian drug rehab clinic. The Public Prosecutor (OM) considered that the programme infringed his religious freedom, but as the man himself had no objection, the appeal court in The Hague disagreed. The man had swindled eight people. A district court in Middelburg therefore earlier gave him a suspended prison sentence and ordered therapy for him to control his cocaine addiction. He had to do this in Winnersway, a Christian rehab centre in Leiden. The 30 year old Muslim told the appeal court in The Hague that he has got back on the right path at Winnersway: he does not use cocaine any more. His religious background does not clash with the identity of the rehab clinic, he stressed. The prosecutor however found it wrong that a Muslim was taken into a "strict Christian clinic," particularly because there "the religious doctrine is part of the treatment." This latter point in the OM's eyes constitutes a restriction of freedom of religion.

Winnersway however allows the Muslim to pray five times a day facing Mecca, and he could fast during Ramadan. "I really feel no pressure that I should become a Christian," said the man. The appeal court therefore ruled that he can continue his treatment in Winnersway.