General

Pregnant woman beaten in Pakistani jail granted bail

December 30, 2011 Pakistan Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Women

A judge this month granted bail to a Christian woman falsely charged with theft in Abbottabad after police failed to produce evidence incriminating her, she said. Salma Emmanuel, 30, was freed on bail on Dec. 8. She and her husband were severely beaten for three days when they refused to . . . Read More

Officials force Christians to recant for burial

December 30, 2011 Laos Burial, Laos, Savannakhet

Officials this week forced Christians in a Lao village to give up their faith in order to bury a family member in the village graveyard, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). In Huey, Ad-Sapangthong district of Savannakhet Province, where immediate burial is essential in . . . Read More

India Briefs: Recent Incidents of Persecution

December 30, 2011 India Andhra Pradesh, Bangalore, Hindu nationalism, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Pentecostals, RSS, Tamil Nadu

Police arrested a Christian after Hindu extremists on Dec. 22 accused him of forceful conversion in Nagarcoil. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that Hindu extremists accused Sagaya Dass of forceful conversion after he and students from SP Hindu College organised a Christmas program. The extremists filed a police . . . Read More

Christians face harsh realities of Nigerian church bombing

December 29, 2011 Nigeria Abuja, Boko Haram, Christmas, Nigeria, Sultan of Sokoto, Trauma

Until last Sunday, Christmas Day, St. Theresa’s Catholic Church on the outskirts of Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, was just one of many branches of Christianity in the country. An early morning suicide bomb attack by Islamic extremist group Boko Haram that left at least 45 people dead and 73 others . . . Read More

Muslim extremists in Uganda throw acid on bishop

December 28, 2011 Uganda Acid attacks, East Africa, Jinja, Kadhi courts, Kampala, Sharia, Uganda

Islamic extremists threw acid on a church leader on Christmas Eve shortly after a seven-day revival at his church, leaving him with severe burns that have blinded one eye and threaten sight in the other. Bishop Umar Mulinde, 37, a sheikh (Islamic teacher) before his conversion to Christianity, was attacked . . . Read More

Christian in Pakistan charged with ‘blasphemy’ after argument

December 26, 2011 Pakistan Blasphemy, Lahore, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Quran

A young man has been charged with desecrating the Quran under Pakistan’s controversial “blasphemy” laws after the Christian had an argument over rent with his Muslim landlord, his attorneys said. Police in Shahdara Town, near Lahore, arrested Khuram Masih, 23, on Dec. 5 and charged him under Section 295-B after . . . Read More

Church in China to end outdoor services; Gao Zhisheng alive

December 23, 2011 China Beijing, China, Gao Zhisheng, Shouwang Church

Key issues in Chinese religious rights are taking a pivotal turn at year’s end as the beleaguered Shouwang house church in Beijing will celebrate its last outdoor service on Christmas Day, and “disappeared” human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng has ostensibly resurfaced – in an undisclosed prison. Denied access to a . . . Read More

Lao officials: give up your Christian faith or face eviction

December 23, 2011 Laos Laos, Savannakhet

Nearly 50 Christians await their fate today after officials in Natoo village, southern Laos, on Wednesday (Dec. 21) summoned four of their leaders and warned that they would evict the entire church “within 24 hours” if they refused to give up their faith. Officials told the Christians they had forfeited . . . Read More

Five Christians slain in another assault in Kaduna, Nigeria

December 23, 2011 Nigeria Christian Association of Nigeria, ECWA, Kaduna, Nigeria

Local Islamists and Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked a Christian community in Kaduna state on Monday (Dec. 19), killing five people and wounding six, area sources said, just nine days after a deadly attack on a Christian community in Kukum Gida in the same local government area. The Muslim assailants, brandishing . . . Read More

Decision stalled on Iranian pastor sentenced to death

December 21, 2011 Iran Ahwaz, Baptism, Farshid Fathi, Iran, Rasht, Youcef Nadarkhani

A pastor in Iran sentenced to death for refusing to recant his faith may have to wait another year for a ruling on whether the sentence will be upheld, according to sources. Yousef (also spelled Youcef) Nadarkhani, sentenced to death after a court of appeals in Rasht, Iran, found him . . . Read More

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