{"id":84953,"date":"2026-02-16T12:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/?p=84953"},"modified":"2026-02-16T15:02:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:02:01","slug":"police-arrested-and-visited-christian-pastors-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/news\/police-arrested-and-visited-christian-pastors-home","title":{"rendered":"Police arrest Christian pastor and visit his home after he commented on Islam and transgender ideology while street preaching"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"84953\" class=\"elementor elementor-84953\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-47458b90 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"47458b90\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-78a08d2a\" data-id=\"78a08d2a\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-56b87ef0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"56b87ef0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li>Pastor Dia Moodley has been arrested twice for peaceful street preaching<\/li><li>Police visited pastor at his home after latest arrest<\/li><li>Pastor Moodley is considering legal action against the police, with the support of ADF International<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3a53baf0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-featured-image elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"3a53baf0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-featured-image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"672\" height=\"997\" src=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DIA-PHOTO-NOVEMBER-2.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-84960\" alt=\"Photo of Pastor Dia arrested in handcuffs for peaceful preaching.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DIA-PHOTO-NOVEMBER-2.png 672w, https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DIA-PHOTO-NOVEMBER-2-202x300.png 202w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b72bfab elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b72bfab\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>BRISTOL (16 February 2026) \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Police arrested and visited a Christian pastor\u2019s home after he peacefully commented on Islam and transgender ideology while street preaching in Bristol city centre.<\/p><p>Pastor Dia Moodley, 58, was arrested by Avon and Somerset Police officers last November in Broadmead on suspicion of \u201cinciting religious hatred\u201d under the Public Order Act 1986 for his speech, despite the fact that he had merely publicly shared his Christian views.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-053a6a0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-video\" data-id=\"053a6a0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;video_type&quot;:&quot;hosted&quot;,&quot;controls&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"video.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-hosted-video elementor-wrapper elementor-open-inline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<video class=\"elementor-video\" src=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Pastor-Dia-Moodley-arrest-video.mp4\" controls=\"\" preload=\"metadata\" controlsList=\"nodownload\"><\/video>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3984ae1b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3984ae1b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The pastor, who suffers from a heart condition, was held in a police cell for eight hours before being released under censorial bail conditions banning him from entering and therefore preaching in Bristol city centre over the Christmas period.<\/p><p>The bail conditions were dropped after Pastor Moodley made representations to the police, but two police officers later visited his home on Thursday 8 January, questioned him further on the November incident and invited him to a voluntary interview under caution.<\/p><p>With the support of his legal team, Pastor Moodley is considering whether to attend the interview. The pastor is currently waiting to hear whether he will be criminally charged for his peaceful speech.<\/p><p>ADF International is providing legal support to\u00a0Pastor\u00a0Moodley, who is considering legal\u00a0action against the police for the violation of his free speech rights.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>This is the second time Avon and Somerset Police officers have arrested Pastor Moodley for\u00a0peacefully\u00a0street preaching.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>In March 2025, the pastor was twice\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/en-gb\/news\/christian-pastor-threatened-with-arrest-for-peaceful-preaching\">threatened with arrest<\/a>\u00a0for \u201cbreaching the peace\u201d, after preaching about the differences between Christianity and Islam while holding a Quran.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>He was the victim of assault on that occasion\u00a0by Muslim bystanders and one man even threatened to stab the pastor. The police have not charged any of the individuals who assaulted him.\u00a0<\/p><p>The pastor\u00a0met with the US State Department prior to that incident in March, at a meeting\u00a0facilitated\u00a0by ADF International,\u00a0and spoke about his experience as a victim of censorship in the UK.<\/p><p>Pastor Moodley said:\u00a0<em>\u201cThis latest arrest has had a profoundly negative effect on me\u00a0and\u00a0has been\u00a0extremely challenging personally.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p><p><em>\u201cI am a law-abiding\u00a0citizen\u00a0and it feels surreal that the police have criminalised me so harshly and repeatedly merely for peacefully expressing my Christian views in the public square.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p><p><em>\u201cUnfortunately,\u00a0I believe that the police\u00a0view me, a Christian pastor, as an easy target and are afraid of\u00a0others being\u00a0offended\u00a0by\u00a0my lawful speech. This\u00a0is\u00a0two-tier policing in action.\u201d<\/em><\/p><p>Legal Counsel for ADF\u00a0International\u00a0Jeremiah\u00a0Igunnubole\u00a0said:\u00a0\u201c<em>Pastor Dia\u2019s arrest for peacefully commenting on Islam and transgender ideology shows police are using public order legislation to impose de facto blasphemy laws in the UK. <\/em>\u00a0<\/p><p><em>\u201cThis is far from an isolated incident. It is\u00a0part of\u00a0a clear pattern of behaviour from Avon and Somerset Police, who\u00a0for\u00a0years\u00a0have targeted\u00a0Pastor Dia for his\u00a0peaceful expression in the public square and have failed in their duty\u00a0to investigate serious crimes committed against him, by those who objected to\u00a0his speech.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p><p><em>\u201cThe police must stop their\u00a0two-tier approach of criminalising lawful speech.\u00a0There has long been a pressing need for\u00a0Parliament\u00a0to\u00a0pass legislation to ensure the right to freedom of expression is\u00a0robustly\u00a0protected in this country.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p><p><em>\u201cPastor Dia\u2019s case is\u00a0all the more\u00a0pressing as the government finalises its broad and ambiguous definition of \u2018anti-Muslim hatred\u2019,\u00a0which risks censoring legitimate speech related to Islam.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><p><em>\u201cPastor Dia\u2019s case shows how authorities can misconstrue peaceful comments on Islam as \u2018hateful\u2019 and criminal. This misconstruction will be repeated unless clarity is\u00a0provided\u00a0to preserve the ability of citizens to peacefully comment,\u00a0discuss and criticise\u00a0in accordance with\u00a0their core beliefs.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p><p>After Pastor Moodley\u2019s first arrest\u00a0in March 2024, the police also unlawfully instructed\u00a0that\u00a0his signs, which he\u00a0used while street preaching,\u00a0be destroyed. The police have failed to even acknowledge his\u00a0formal request\u00a0for compensation for the signs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>Previously, police tried to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/en-gb\/news\/police-settle-in-censorship-case\">censor<\/a>\u00a0Pastor Moodley from commenting on any religion besides Christianity while street preaching. Avon and Somerset Police dropped these restrictions and admitted they were \u201cdisproportionate\u201d after\u00a0Pastor\u00a0Moodley\u00a0launched a legal\u00a0challenge with the support of ADF International.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>November 2025 arrest<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p><p>On 22 November, Pastor Moodley was engaging in street preaching in Bristol city centre on two topics: the reality of the sex binary and the falsehood of transgender ideology, and the theology of Christianity compared to other religions, including Islam.<\/p><p>He often engages\u00a0in dialogue\u00a0with members of the public during street preaching and\u00a0the\u00a0vast\u00a0majority of\u00a0his interactions are positive, even\u00a0if the people\u00a0he\u00a0speaks with hold different views.\u00a0<\/p><p>On the day,\u00a0Pastor Moodley had a respectful conversation on Islam with three young Muslim women.\u00a0<\/p><p>Later on, one couple\u00a0objected to Pastor Moodley\u2019s views on transgender ideology.<\/p><p>The woman called the police and two officers then arrived and\u00a0solely\u00a0focussed on the accounts of\u00a0bystanders who\u00a0objected to\u00a0the pastor\u2019s\u00a0preaching.<\/p><p>The police refused to\u00a0engage with the pastor and members of his congregation\u00a0and hear their account of what had happened.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>The\u00a0police\u00a0then\u00a0arrested Pastor Moodley on suspicion of \u201cinciting religious hatred\u201d and committing a \u201creligiously aggravated\u201d offence under the Public Order Act 1986, for peacefully expressing his Christian views.<\/p><p>The pastor has a heart condition\u00a0and was sweating visibly due to the stress of\u00a0the situation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>He\u00a0asked for the handcuffs to be placed at the front of his body\u00a0and not\u00a0behind his back,\u00a0which would make it difficult for him to breathe.\u00a0The police\u00a0officer initially appeared annoyed and reluctant to consider the request but eventually agreed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>Pastor Moodley was held\u00a0in a police cell for\u00a0eight\u00a0hours\u00a0before\u00a0being released.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>The\u00a0bail conditions\u00a0initially imposed on Pastor Moodley\u00a0banned\u00a0him from\u00a0entering the city centre\u00a0until 30 December.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>These were only overturned on 17 December and prevented him from preaching\u00a0in the busiest part of the city\u00a0for most of December, stopped him from attending to an important pastoral matter and\u00a0disrupted his personal life.\u00a0<\/p><p>Read more about Avon and Somerset Police\u2019s past targeting of Pastor Moodley <a href=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/en-gb\/news\/christian-pastor-threatened-with-arrest-for-peaceful-preaching\">here<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/en-gb\/news\/pastor-arrested-after-commenting-on-islam-while-street-preaching\">here<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/en-gb\/news\/police-settle-in-censorship-case\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6f295af2 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"6f295af2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7516d100 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7516d100\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Images for free use in print or online in relation to this story only<\/p><p><em>Pictured: Pastor Dia Moodley, Pastor Moodley being arrested in November 2025, Legal Counsel for ADF\u00a0International\u00a0Jeremiah\u00a0Igunnubole<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-136ac60d elementor-widget elementor-widget-gallery\" data-id=\"136ac60d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" 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class=\"elementor-gallery-item__overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"e-gallery-item elementor-gallery-item elementor-animated-content\" href=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Jeremiah_Igunnubole_400x400px-1.webp\" data-elementor-open-lightbox=\"yes\" data-elementor-lightbox-slideshow=\"136ac60d\" data-elementor-lightbox-title=\"Jeremiah Igunnubole 400x400px (1)\" data-e-action-hash=\"#elementor-action%3Aaction%3Dlightbox%26settings%3DeyJpZCI6ODQ5ODUsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOlwvXC9hZGZpbnRlcm5hdGlvbmFsLm9yZ1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDJcL0plcmVtaWFoX0lndW5udWJvbGVfNDAweDQwMHB4LTEud2VicCIsInNsaWRlc2hvdyI6IjEzNmFjNjBkIn0%3D\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-gallery-image elementor-gallery-item__image\" data-thumbnail=\"https:\/\/adfinternational.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Jeremiah_Igunnubole_400x400px-1.webp\" data-width=\"400\" data-height=\"400\" aria-label=\"\" role=\"img\" ><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-gallery-item__overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pastor Dia Moodley has been arrested twice for peaceful street preaching Police visited pastor at his home after latest arrest Pastor Moodley is considering legal action against the police, with the support of ADF International BRISTOL (16 February 2026) \u2013\u00a0Police arrested and visited a Christian pastor\u2019s home after he peacefully commented on Islam and transgender [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":84960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1525,25,343,1526,67],"class_list":["post-84953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-dia-moodley","tag-free-speech","tag-freedom-of-religion","tag-police","tag-uk"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Police arrest Christian pastor and visit his home after he commented on Islam and transgender ideology while street preaching - ADF International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Police arrested and visited a Christian pastor\u2019s home after he peacefully commented on Islam and transgenderism while 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