The Persecution Times » Archive
Algerian Authorities Detain Christians Leaving Prayer Meeting
Compass Direct News reports that: Algerian authorities have charged six Christians with distributing illegal religious material after detaining them as they left a prayer meeting in a western city last week. The Protestants were charged with “distributing documents to shake the faith of Muslims,” according to a written court summons issued Saturday May 10 prior to the men’s release in Tiaret city. Their first hearing is scheduled for May 27. During the detainees’ overnight stay at a local police station, officers repeatedly threatened them for converting from Islam to Christianity, one of the Christians said. “They said we were accomplices and the spies of the Jews, thus we deserve to have our throats cut without pity,” said Djillali Saibi. Though the court summons did not specify which law the men had violated, the charge quotes … Read entire article »
Filed under: Algeria, Christian, Muslim, Persecution
Christian Sentenced for Carrying a Bible in Algeria
Compass Direct News reports that An Algerian Christian detained five days for carrying a Bible and personal Bible study books was handed a 300-euro (US$460) fine and a one-year suspended prison sentence last week, an Algerian church leader said. Last Tuesday (April 29) a court in Djilfa, 150 miles south of Algiers, charged the 33-year-old Muslim convert to Christianity with “printing, storing and distributing” illegal religious material. A written copy of the verdict has yet to be issued. The Protestant, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told fellow Christians in his home city of Tiaret that police pressured him to return to Islam while in custody. The conviction is the latest in a wave of detentions and court cases against Algeria’s Protestants and Catholics. Since January police and provincial officials have ordered the closure … Read entire article »
Filed under: Algeria, Christian, Compass Direct, Muslim, Persecution
Muslim’s Gang Rape Pastor’s 13 Year Old Daughter in Bangladesh
Compass Direct News reports that Muslim villagers in Mymensingh district eager to rid the area of the Christian work of a local pastor have gang-raped his 13-year-old daughter, the girl’s father said. Pastor Motilal Das of United Bethany Church said that at around 3 a.m. on Friday (May 2) the villagers sexually assaulted his daughter, Elina Das, and left her unconscious in front of his house in an attempt to drive him and his Christian ministry out of Laksmipur village in Fulbaria sub-district, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital. Local residents have long been angry with him for his ministry and evangelism, he said, and he has received death threats. “I did not pay attention to any of the threats or hindrances – I continued evangelical and pastoral activities with prayer,” Das … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bangladesh, Christian, Compass Direct, Muslim, Persecution
Armed Men Threaten Church in Turkey
Compass Direct News Reports: that Three men, one of them armed with a gun and wearing gloves, threatened a Protestant church and its pastor in the Turkish capital city of Ankara yesterday. The culprits fled in a car before police could be summoned. The attempted attack marked the seventh incident in the past four months of threatened violence against Turkey’s tiny Protestant community, most of whom are former Muslims who converted to Christianity. Shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday (May 6), three men drove up in a blue car to the Kurtulus Church in Ankara’s Cebeci district. A heavy-set man about 45 years old went up to the locked church building and began to ring the doorbell repeatedly. “Where is the pastor? We are searching for the pastor,” he said to a church member nearby … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christian, Compass Direct, Persecution
Chinese Public Security Bureau officials arrest believers in several police actions
By Michael Ireland Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service INNER MONGOLIA (ANS) — Four people from the Arong Qi Security and Religious Affairs Bureau have detained two house church ministers Sun Chuan Min (27 years-old, from Gan He town, Inner Mongolia) and Sun Shi Ying (24 years-old, from Liu He village). Both were taken to the local police station at 7 o’clock on May 1, 2008. According to China Aid Association, security officials also confiscated a video camera, books, a washing machine, comforters, and food supplies belonging to the Daqing Church. All of the aforementioned items were taken without proper and legal documentation. CAA says that on May 4, 66 year-old Guo Jingtian, pastor of Arong Zhen Ge Er church of Yadong town, Inner Mongolia, was summoned to the Local Security Bureau and charged with … Read entire article »
Filed under: Assist News Service, China, Christian, Persecution
