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Christian acquitted of ‘blasphemy’ charge in Pakistan

April 17, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Madrassas, Multan, Pakistan, Punjab

A Pakistani Christian falsely charged with “blasphemy” after rescuing his 8-year-old nephew from a beating at the hands of Muslim boys has been cleared of the charge. Dildar Masih, a 27-year-old father of two young children, was acquitted on March 26 after prosecutors failed to produce any evidence against him, . . . Read More

Islamic extremists beat, mock Christians

April 12, 2012 India India, Islamic extremism, West Bengal

Islamic extremists in India attacked a Christian prayer meeting in West Bengal state, beating a 65-year-old widow and other women less than a month after they helped drive a young woman out of her home and village for her faith. Islamists in Nutangram, Murshidabad district forced their way into the . . . Read More

Woman accused of ‘blasphemy’ illegally held in jail

April 10, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Women

The mother of a 6-month-old girl has been wrongly jailed for more than a month, as Pakistani authorities have failed to file a charge sheet within the mandatory 14-day period against the young Christian woman falsely accused of “blaspheming” the prophet of Islam, her attorney said. Shamim Bibi, 26, of . . . Read More

Suicide bomber targets churches in Kaduna, Nigeria

April 9, 2012 Nigeria Churches, ECWA, Kaduna, Nigeria, Zaria

Churches celebrating Easter services were the targets of a suicide bomber who killed at least 38 people yesterday in Kaduna city in northern Nigeria, sources said. Security personnel at one of the church buildings blocked the bomber, believed to belong to the Boko Haram Islamic sect, who then decided to . . . Read More

Turkey’s religious freedom record slides

April 9, 2012 Turkey Greek Orthodox, Malatya, Orhan Picaklar, Religious freedom, Turkey

Sentiment against Christians in Turkey has persisted long enough for a U.S. religious rights monitor to recommend it as a “Country of Particular Concern,” and pastor Orhan Picaklar knows such anti-Christian hostility first-hand. Picaklar, of Agape Church in Samsun, lives in the Black Sea region, a bastion of Turkey’s unique . . . Read More

Lao officials confiscate church buildings

April 6, 2012 Laos Churches, Laos, Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang, Savannakhet

Lao officials on Thursday (April 5) confiscated and sealed a church building in southern Laos after holding a two-day seminar warning against religious belief, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). Besides sealing the church building in Khamnonsung village, Saybuly district, they also warned that . . . Read More

Court in Egypt sentences young Christian for ‘insulting Islam’

April 6, 2012 Egypt Asyut, Blasphemy, Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Prophet Muhammad, Salafism

In a show of partiality to Muslims who go unprosecuted for like offenses against Christianity, a juvenile court in Egypt on Wednesday (April 4) sentenced a Coptic Christian teenager to three years in prison for allegedly insulting Islam. Gamal Abdou Massoud, 17, denies the charges. The court claimed that he . . . Read More

Southern Sudanese Christians fear forced repatriation

April 6, 2012 Sudan Khartoum, Omar al-Bashir, Sharia, South Sudan, Sudan

Christians from South Sudan who have until Easter Sunday (April 8) to try to become citizens of Sudan or be deported fear authorities will use the occasion to rid the country of Christianity, church leaders said. More than 500,000 citizens of southern ethnic origin who have been living in Sudan . . . Read More

Explosion at Christian meeting in Kenya kills boy, woman

April 3, 2012 Kenya Al-Shabaab, Islamic extremism, Kenya, Mombasa, Sharia

An 8-year-old boy died today from injuries after suspected Islamic extremists on Saturday (March 31) threw a grenade into a Christian revival meeting near Kenya’s coastal town of Mombasa that instantly killed a woman and injured at least 30 people. Kenyan Internal Security Minister George Saitoti said Islamic extremists from . . . Read More

Drive to release rights lawyer in China pushes forward

March 30, 2012 China China, Gao Zhisheng, Human rights, Xinjiang

Confirmation this week of China’s assertion in December that human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng is alive and serving out a prison sentence is key as efforts continue for his release, a human rights lawyer said. Gao, a Christian whose advocacy for religious minorities led to his conviction in 2006 for “subversion,” . . . Read More

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