News

Violence continues in Nigeria as Akinola criticises President

  May 29, 2012 Nigeria Islamic extremism, Nigeria, Plateau

In Nigeria’s Plateau state, Christian leaders said more Christians have died at the hands of Muslim extremists than the 35 that the military reported thus far in May. A World Watch Monitor reporter was among a group of journalists that came under attack from Islamic extremists this month. In three . . . Read More

Bhatti murder case in Pakistan increasingly murky

  May 25, 2012 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Minorities, Pakistan, Paul Bhatti, Punjab, Rawalpindi, Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti, Taliban

The investigation into the murder of Pakistan’s only cabinet-level Christian, Shahbaz Bhatti, has become mired amid suspicions of a possible cover-up, sources said. Lax investigations, a series of freed suspects and lack of coordination across law enforcement organizations have stalled the case following the March 2, 2011 slaying of the . . . Read More

Islamist mob throws urine on church in Indonesia

  May 23, 2012 Indonesia Bekasi, GKI Yasmin, Indonesia, Java, Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama

No arrests have been made since 600 Islamists hurled bags filled with urine and ditchwater at about 100 members of a church last week and threatened to kill its pastor. Police looked on as the mob attacked the Philadelphia Batak Christian Protestant Church worshipping on the street in Bekasi, near . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian accused of ‘blasphemy’ after billiards dispute

  May 22, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Farooqabad, Pakistan, Punjab, Quran, Sheikhupura

Police in Pakistan have charged a young Christian man with “blasphemy” after he had an argument with Muslims over a billiards game in Punjab Province’s Sheikhupura district, his cousin said. Farooqabad Police arrested Sajid Inayat, 20, on Friday (May 18) and charged him with desecrating the Quran under the country’s . . . Read More

Pakistani Muslims rape girl, beat relatives for prosecuting

  May 21, 2012 Pakistan Narowal, Pakistan, Rape, Women

A band of Muslims this month severely beat a pregnant Christian woman in Punjab’s Narowal district – causing her to lose female twins to miscarriage – in an effort to pressure her family into dropping charges of raping her 13-year-old niece, the woman’s husband said. Asher Masih of Dhamala village . . . Read More

Islamic terrorist bases raided in Nigerian cities of Jos, Kano

  May 21, 2012 Nigeria Boko Haram, Jos, Kano, Maiduguri, Nigeria

The Nigerian military’s discovery here of a Muslim terrorist base full of ammunition and explosives on Saturday (May 19) refutes Islamist claims that Christians have been bombing their own churches, a local pastor said. Following an intensive three-day search by Nigeria’s Special Military Task Force that found four Improvised Explosive . . . Read More

Life sentences for ‘blasphemy’ in Pakistan overturned

  May 18, 2012 Pakistan Blasphemy, Kasur, Lahore, Pakistan, Quran, Sahiwal

A court acquitted a Christian couple of “blasphemy” charges yesterday, overturning their life sentences, their lawyer said. Chaudhry Naeem Shakir told World Watch Monitor that Justice Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi of the Lahore High Court accepted the couple’s appeal because prosecutors failed to prove allegations that 32-year-old Munir Masih and . . . Read More

Wrongful conviction in Ethiopia robs Christian of children

  May 17, 2012 Ethiopia Addis Ababa, Children, Ethiopia

His wife died shortly before he was falsely accused of desecrating the Quran, and by the time he was released from prison in southern Ethiopia, his two children, ages 6 and 15, were missing. Tamirat Woldegorgis walked out of prison in Jijiga on April 25, limping, after spending nearly two . . . Read More

Harsh era looms in Aceh, Indonesia

  May 16, 2012 Indonesia Aceh, Bekasi, Churches, Indonesia

The election of a hard-line Islamic governor in Indonesia’s Aceh Province last month appears to have opened the way for a crack-down on the minority Christian community, which saw 17 churches sealed shut in early May. Emboldened by the April 9 election of Zaini Abdullah of the militant Aceh Party . . . Read More

Injured convert in Pakistan tries to rebuild life

  May 15, 2012 Pakistan Barelvi, Converts, Divorce, Faisalabad, Karachi, Pakistan

Muhammad Kamran isn’t sure who sent the men to beat him after his Muslim wife told both her family and his that he had become a Christian. The 34-year-old native of Karachi said his wife’s brothers had begun coming to his office to threaten him before unidentified assailants attacked him . . . Read More