Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100 DUBLIN, November 17 (Compass Direct News) – Lao officials have released three prisoners from Boukham village, Savannakhet province, after several weeks of detention, but restrictions on Christian worship in the village are still in force. Pastor Sompong Supatto, 32, and two other believers, Boot Chanthaleuxay, 18, and Khamvan Chanthaleuxay, also 18, were released on Oct. 16 against the wishes of the village chief, who had threatened to hand Supatto a life sentence at a maximum-security prison. Village officials remain hostile to the presence of Christians, according to Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom. Authorities had temporarily arrested Supatto and four other believers on July 20 for “believing and worshiping God.” When they continued to gather for worship, police arrested Supatto and two members of the Chanthaleuxay family on Aug. 3, detaining them in handcuffs and wooden foot-stocks in the nearby Ad-Sapangthong district police detention cell. In September, the chief of Boukham village called a special community meeting to resolve the “problem” of eight resident Christian families who refused to give up their faith. The meeting ended with plans to expel all 55 Christians from the village; at press time, however, no expulsion had taken place, according to Compass sources.
Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100 ISTANBUL, November 17 (Compass Direct News) – In prison at the age of 14 for having fatally stabbed her uncle in northern Iraq, Asya Ahmad Muhammad’s early release on Nov. 10 thanks to a juvenile court decision was overshadowed by fear of retaliation from her extended Muslim family. Also known as Maria, the now 16-year-old Muhammad was sentenced to five years in prison for killing her paternal uncle in self-defense on July 9, 2006 when he attacked her, her mother and little brother at their family kitchen utensil store in the outskirts of Dohuk. The uncle had cut her mother and was fiercely beating them for converting to Christianity and for “shaming” the family by working in public when Muhammad stabbed him. Her lawyer, Akram Al-Najar, told Compass that the court earlier agreed to reduce her sentence to two years and four months on the basis of her good conduct and having served nearly three-quarters of her three-and-a-half year sentence. But Muhammad’s release from prison now means a possible retaliation from extended family members for her uncle’s death, said Al-Najar. “I am not sure she is safe right now, especially after her release, since there are still people intent on gaining revenge,” said the lawyer. Muhammad’s father, Ahmad Muhammad Abdurahman, said that in the last week family members have called him twice telling him his days of joy are numbered. “My sisters called me, and my brother’s wife called me also [and said], ‘You are a shame. Don’t be happy in your family; we will never let you be happy in your family,’” Abdurahman told Compass.
Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100 ISTANBUL, November 14 (Compass Direct News) – In 99-percent Muslim Turkey, most Iraqi refugees are not Muslims. A middle-aged Iraqi refugee in Istanbul who fled Mosul five months ago said the only hope for his fellow expatriates is for Western countries to open their doors to Christian Iraqi refugees. “We don’t have hope,” he said. “If these doors aren’t opened, we will be killed.” Weeks after the mass exodus of Mosul Christians to surrounding villages, Turkey and other nations, around one-third of families have returned. But those returning Christians were shaken again on Wednesday (Nov. 12), when Islamic militants stormed into the house of two Syrian Catholic sisters, Lamia’a Sabih and Wala’a Saloha, killing them and severely injuring their mother. They then bombed their house and detonated a second explosive when police arrived, which killed three more. The Christian family had recently returned after having fled Mosul. Many believe this attack will deter other Christians from returning to Mosul, and there are reports of Christians again leaving the area.
Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100 NAIROBI, Kenya, November 12 (Compass Direct News) – Negotiations continued today for the release of two nuns abducted by insurgent Somali militia at midnight on Sunday (Nov. 9) from Kenya’s northern Mandera district near the Somali border. Pastor Alois Maina of Community Church in Mandera told Compass that the two nuns were being held in El-Haddah, Somalia, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border. Kenya Broadcasting Corp. reported that it had confirmed the nuns were being held in Somalia. A Catholic priest in Mandera who requested anonymity told Compass that Catholic leaders were collaborating with village elders in both Kenya and Somalia to negotiate with the militia for the nuns’ release. “What we need at the moment is prayer,” said the priest.
Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100 Istanbul, November 13 (Compass Direct News) – A Christian doctor in Pakistan jailed since May 5 on charges of “blasphemy” was acquitted last week, while another Christian and his adult daughter remained incarcerated after more than a month on charges of desecrating the Quran. Dr. Robin Sardar of Pakistan’s Punjab province was released on Nov. 4 after his accuser said the claim that he had blasphemed Islam’s prophet Muhammad was the result of a “misunderstanding,” said Ezra Shujaab of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance. After a thorough investigation, the court found the accusation to be baseless and freed Sardar, Shujaab said. Outraged Muslim villagers had threatened to kill Sardar if he was acquitted, and he has gone into hiding, as his family did since his incarceration six months ago. A mob bearing sticks and kerosene and chanting death threats had surrounded the family’s house at that time. As happened to Sardar, violent Muslim mobs also attacked the home of Gulsher Masih after his daughter was accused of desecrating the Quran on Oct. 9 in the village of Tehsil Chak Jhumra. Both he and his daughter, 25-year-old Sandal Gulsher, have been detained in Faisalabad since Oct. 10, and the rest of the family has gone into hiding.
Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100 ISTANBUL, November 12 (Compass Direct News) – Two years into a trial for “insulting Turkishness” that has been light on evidence and heavy on mud-slinging at Turkey’s Protestant community, a court proceeding last week brought no progress. Another witness for the prosecution failed to appear in the trial of Turkish Christians Turan Topal and Hakan Tastan, charged with “insulting Turkishness” by spreading Christianity through illegal methods. Moreover, a Justice Ministry answer to the court about the viability of charges under Turkey’s controversial Article 301 had yet to arrive at the court last week. The legal battle has been less about guilt or innocence and more about tainting the Protestant community’s image, according to a member of the legal committee of the Alliance of Protestant Churches in Turkey. The Christian Turk from the legal committee told Compass that in 2006, when the charges against Topal and Tastan first came to light, there were news reports for days claiming that Christians tricked children in elementary schools, paid people to come to church and gave women away for sex, among other absurd assertions. “The goal was to create disinformation, and they succeeded at portraying Christians in a negative light,” he said.
Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100 LOS ANGELES, November 10 (Compass Direct News) – Concerns about the health and safety of the son of martyred Iranian pastor Hossein Soodmand are swirling around Ramtin Soodmand as he awaits trial for “promoting anti-government propaganda.” Soodmand was released on bail Oct. 22 after more than two months in a Mashhad prison, having originally been charged with “proselytizing.” A family member expressed frustration that the court repeatedly changed the bail amount before finally settling on $22,000. Soodmand’s in-laws put the deed to their home up to ensure bail. Soodmand has been officially charged with “promoting anti-government propaganda,” but with a new penal code under consideration in Iranian Parliament this month that would codify capital punishment for “apostates,” friends and family worry that he may face the death penalty. A family member told Compass that the court had originally accused Soodmand of religious activity and proselytizing. Friends and relatives of Soodmand questioned his treatment while in prison. One source told Compass that he asked about Soodmand’s health on three separate phone conversations. “The government cut off the phone three times,” the source said.
Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100 DUBLIN, November 11 (Compass Direct News) – Chinese officials have yet to declare a new court date for Alimjan Yimit, a Christian house church leader and ethnic Uyghur in China’s northwest province of Xinjiang detained since his arrest on Jan. 12. Alimjan’s name appears as Alimujiang Yimiti in Chinese documents. State prosecutors in mid-October returned Alimjan’s case to a Xinjiang court for consideration, China Aid Association (CAA) reported. Court officials have refused to release details of the case to the public, but sources told Compass that further legal action is expected imminently. Charges against Alimjan include “inciting secessionist sentiment to split the country” and “collecting and selling intelligence for overseas organizations,” CAA reported in June. Once a Muslim, Alimjan converted to Christianity more than 10 years ago and became active in the growing Uyghur church. Friends said they believe his faith is the real reason for his arrest. Officials have threatened to hand down a sentence ranging from as much as six years in prison to execution.
Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0100 NEW DELHI, November 5 (Compass Direct News) – Terrified Christians ravaged by more than two months of violence in Orissa state’s Kandhamal district braced for more carnage as suspected Maoists today gunned down a local worker of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Dhanu Pradhan was an RSS activist said to be on the Maoists’ hit list. Police said he was shot by three suspected Maoists in Kumharigaon village under Brahmanigaon jurisdiction in Kandhamal at 1 p.m., reported The Indian Express. Modern India’s worst-ever spate of violence began in the forest district of Kandhamal on Aug. 24, a day after a leader of the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP), Laxmanananda Saraswati, was killed. Although a Maoist group admitted killing Saraswati and four of his aides, the VHP blamed local Christians for the assassinations. The wave of violent attacks carried on unabated for more than two months, destroying at least 4,500 houses and churches in the district. More than 500 people, mostly Christian, might have been killed in the past few months’ violence in Kandhamal district, according to a report by a Communist Party fact-finding team. The report also suggested that the state government downplayed and covered up evidence of unreported deaths.
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