News

Egyptian convert still in jail having served his time

  June 22, 2015 Egypt Apostasy, Converts, Egypt, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Mohammed Hegazy

Having spent most of his adult life either harassed, in hiding, or in jail, former Muslim now Christian Mohamed Hegazy can expect more of the same. Hegazy, who has been in prison since December 2, 2013, is known to be the first Egyptian to openly seek a change from Muslim . . . Read More

Coptic boys on bail, anti-Islam charges pending

  June 18, 2015 Egypt Al-Azhar, Blasphemy, Copts, Gad Younan, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Muslim Brotherhood, Ramadan

The last of four Egyptian boys accused of having “offended” Islam has been released on bail while trial is expected to continue after the Muslim month of Ramadan. The 17-year-old student from Upper Egypt was released after 62 days in prison, subject to the payment of 10,000 Egyptian pounds, equivalent . . . Read More

Community ‘justice’ expels Copts from their homes

  June 17, 2015 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Beni Suef, Copts, Egypt, Gad Younan, Islamic State, Minya, Mohamed Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood

Forgive Emad Youssef if he and his extended family felt quite confused. The crowd welcoming them back to the village had only a few days earlier demanded they leave. “They said this is the first time something like this has happened in our village,” he told private satellite channel, OnTV “and that, . . . Read More

Central Asia in the spotlight as Azerbaijan hosts European Games

  June 13, 2015 Ashgabat, Azerbaijan, Baku, Caucasus, Central Asia, Islam Karimov, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, London, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Saparmurat Niyazov, Soviet Union, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

In a somewhat geographically and culturally challenging development, the first ever European Games begins today (13 June) in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is more usually identified as a Central Asian country, but the European Union considers it to be in what it calls its “European Neighbourhood” – what others . . . Read More

Second mentally ill Pakistani in 2 weeks charged with desecrating Quran

  June 11, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Quran, Sindh

Twenty-year-old Yaqoob Bashir Masih was accused of desecrating the Quran in Mirpur Khas in Sindh province on June 4, even though he has been treated for his mental health, according to a Catholic priest. After Bashir (a Christian, known locally as ‘Kaka’) is said to have told a crowd who threatened . . . Read More

Home at last in Mexico

  June 11, 2015 Mexico Catholics, Chiapas, Exile, Hidalgo

The 12 families returned to the village of Buenavista Bawitz on 15 April to find that some of their homes had been vandalised while they were gone.Courtesy Open Doors International   It’s been almost two months since 12 evangelical Christian families – 49 people* in all – were allowed to . . . Read More

Forced out by ISIS, Iraq’s Christians start over

  June 10, 2015 Iraq Greek Orthodox, Islamic State, Jordan, Kurds, Refugees

World Watch Monitor One year ago, Mosul fell to militants belonging to a Sunni Muslim movement calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Thousands of Christians and other religious minorities, threatened with execution, fled. These are the stories of two who have found refuge, one in . . . Read More

S. Sudan pastors face death penalty on charges of sedition and spying

  June 4, 2015 Sudan Darfur, East Africa, Mariam Ibrahim, NISS, Peter Yen, South Kordofan, South Sudan, Sudan, Yat Michael

After several false starts, the trial of two South Sudanese pastors, Yat Michael, 49, and Peter Yen, 37, who stand accused of crimes against the state of Sudan and could face the death penalty, has been rescheduled again to 15 June. The court is then due to hear testimony from . . . Read More

EU ‘must do more’ to stop religious freedom abuses

  June 4, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Brunei, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Maldives, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen

Left to right: MEP Dennis de Jong, USCIRF’s Katrina Lantos Swett, EEAS’s Silvio Gonzato, and MEP Peter van Dalen at the report’s launch in Brussels on 3 June.Courtesy European Parliament Intergroup   The new European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, said in October 2014 that upholding the . . . Read More

Iran pastor Fathi’s appeal fails, against extra year in prison and 74 lashes

  June 2, 2015 Iran Ayatollah Khamenei, Christmas, Church of Iran, Converts, Ebrahim Firouzi, Evin Prison, Farshid Fathi, Hassan Rouhani, Minorities, Prisons, Tehran

An Iranian pastor serving a six-year prison term has failed in his appeal against a further sentence of 74 lashes and an additional year in jail – for the alleged possession in his cell of two litres of alcohol. This latest news about Farshid Fathi was first reported by Iran-focused . . . Read More