The Persecution Times » Archive
Belarusian Christian fined for organizing Bible study
By Michael Ireland Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service GRODNO, BELARUS (ANS) — A Belarusian Christian has been fined the equivalent of nine months minimum wage salary for attempting to organize an informal Bible study and discussion group. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports that on June 9 2008, the Grodno Regional Court declared Valentin Borovik guilty of violating Article 14 of the Belarusian Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religion (LFCR) and Article 9.9 of the Administrative Violations Code and fined him 315,000 rubles (approximately £75 or about $150. In its report CSW says that a somewhat convoluted legal strategy was used to prosecute Boravik. He was originally accused of violating Article 14 of the LFCR, which stipulates that in order to establish a new religious organization there must be a minimum of twenty members … Read entire article »
Filed under: Assist News Service, Belarus, Christian, Persecution
Muslim Youth Murder Christian Teacher in India
By James Varghese Special to ASSIST News Service KERALA, INDIA (ANS) — A Christian school teacher was beaten to death by protesters. According to a story on www.persecution.in, the incident occurred on July 19 in Malappuram in Kerala State. According to the web site, the school teacher was attacked and killed by a group of protestors from the Muslim Youth League. They were taking part in a demonstration demanding the withdrawal of a controversial social science textbook. The story also stated that James Augustin, headmaster of the school at Valillappuzha near Kondotty town, was injured and later died after he was attacked by the marchers near a school at Kizhissery where he gone to attend a meeting. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Assist News Service, Christian, India, Muslim, Persecution
Christian Woman Dies of Malaria in Eritrean Prison
Compass Direct News reports: LOS ANGELES, July 23 (Compass Direct News) – Imprisoned and tortured for her Christian faith since December, 37-year-old Azib Simon died of malaria in Eritrea’s Wi’a Military Training Center last week. Weakened by ongoing torture, sources said, Simon contracted malaria only a week before she died. Christians in the prison are rarely given medical attention, and the sources said authorities refused to provide treatment for Simon’s malaria. Simon was the sister of former Eritrean television journalist Biniam Simon, who recently fled the country after abandoning his career at government controlled ERI-TV. Azib Simon had attended the Kale-Hiwet Church in Assab, one of the independent evangelical churches that have been targeted by the country’s Marxist-leaning authoritarian regime. She was held at the notorious Wi’a Military Training Center, 20 miles south of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christian, Eritrea, Persecution
Pakistan court says the forced conversion of two kidnapped girls is legal
By Dan Wooding Founder of ASSIST Ministries PAKISTAN (ANS) — A Christian father in Pakistan is trying without success to gain custody through the courts of his two pre-teen daughters who were kidnapped and made to convert to Islam – writes Anto Akkara in a story for Ecumenical News International. He stated that On July 12 2008, a judge in Pakistan’s Punjab province ignored pleas that Saba Younis, aged 12, and her 10 year old sister, Anila Younis, who went missing on June 26 from the small town of Chowk Munda, had been kidnapped while on their way to their uncle’s residence and ruled that their conversion to Islam was legal. “The kidnappers, who had married the girls, had also filed for custody of the girls at a local police station on June 28, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Assist News Service, Christian, Islam, Muslim, Persecution
Indian Christians Forced from Their Homes
West Bengal, India – Fourteen Christians were beaten by anti-Christian extremists and forced to flee their homes in West Bengal, India. These Christians are all members of a church where a Gospel for Asia missionary serves as pastor. On July 10, some of the villagers requested a meeting with the Christians from the church. The church members thought it was a meeting about an ordinary matter, but when they arrived, a group of men began shouting at them and accusing them of forcing people to convert from their traditional religion to Christianity. They also blamed the Christians for the illnesses that were going around the village. By the end of the attack, the extremists had threatened to cut them into pieces if they stayed in the village. As the confrontation escalated, some people … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christian, Gospel for Asia, India, Persecution
