(World Watch Monitor) — As Ramadan begins, the daughter of an Algerian Christian serving three years in jail for “insulting Islam and the prophet Muhammad” on Facebook says she’s worried about the abuse her father could suffer after he was transferred to a third different prison. Slimane Bouhafs, who is eight months into his sentence, […]
(World Watch Monitor) — A church leader was among those killed in the recent outbreak of violence in the Central African Republic, it has emerged. Baptist pastor Ange-Apoléon Ngakolada, 36, leaves behind a wife and eight children. The president of the Association of Evangelical Baptist Churches in CAR, Singa Gbadia, told World Watch Monitor that […]
(World Watch Monitor) — New cases have emerged of Azerbaijanis facing heavy fines and imprisonment for trying to sell or distribute religious literature. The South Caucasus state, which supposedly allows religious freedoms under its secular constitution, has made it difficult in the past for Christians to practice their faith. In December 2016 two church leaders […]
HAVANA, Cuba — A Cuban pastor has been sentenced to one year in prison for homeschooling his children, and his wife has been ordered to spend a year under house arrest. “This is a great injustice,” Ramón Rigal told the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). “They are trying to force us to send our children […]
WASHINGTON — An annual government report outlining the state of affairs for religious freedom across the globe has found “worsening” conditions worldwide, and urges the U.S. Department of State to designate 16 nations as Countries of Particular Concern (CPC). “Overall, the Commission has concluded that the state of affairs for international religious freedom is worsening in both the […]
(Evangelical Focus) — Evangelical Christians in Northern Italy are determined to find a solution for the closure of their places of worship by local authorities. In the last three years, 27 places of worship were closed in the region of Lombardy, which affected around forty communities, considering that sometimes two or three churches meet in […]
XIAMEN, Fujian (ChinaAid) — Authorities in China’s coastal Fujian province banned a church, accusing its members of “establishing religious sites” without approval and “collaborating with Korea.” In a notice, authorities accused the River of Life Berean Church and the Bereans Research Institute of Theology of having Korean connections and setting up illegal religious meeting places. […]
JUBA, South Sudan (Morning Star News) – A pastor and another Christian serving a 12-year sentence in Sudan were freed today after they were granted a presidential pardon, sources said. Hassan Abdelrahim Tawor had been in prison since his arrest in December 2015, as was Abdulmonem Abdumawla of Darfur. They were convicted on baseless charges of […]
(Reuters) — Jakarta’s Christian governor has been sentenced to two years in jail for blasphemy, a harsher-than-expected ruling critics fear will embolden hardline Islamist forces to challenge secularism in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation. Tuesday’s guilty verdict for Basuki Tjahaja Purnama comes amid concern about the growing influence of Islamist groups, who organized mass […]
HYDERABAD, India (Morning Star News) – A pastor in eastern India’s Bihar state has lost his hearing after Hindu extremists assaulted him outside his home on church premises last month, sources said. Doctors at a Hajipur government hospital determined the loss of hearing and wounds on Sikandar Kumar’s body were a result of being beaten with […]