Persecuted Church News

Monday, February 20, 2012

Lahore High Court rejects Appeal against Demolition of Charity Property

By Rodrick Samson
Special to ASSIST News Service

LAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- A charitable institution has been demolished by the Lahore Development Authority in the presence of government officials.

The Catholic Church lodged an appeal at the Lahore High Court stating the case was pending at the LHC, there was a stay on the property, and that it was illegally demolished. They did not, however, mention anything about the desecration of the Church and the Bibles which apparently occurred.

One of the displaced, 61-year-old Zenobia Richards, took a firm stand against the atrocity and filed an appeal at the LHC that her house was illegally demolished and her Bible, Rosary and the Statue of Mother Mary were desecrated.

The Church authorities and other pressure groups tried to ask Richards to take the case back and let the Church deal with the matter, but she was firm on her stand.

Richards stated: "I am not afraid of anyone, the Minority representative Kamran Micheal is involved, the clergy is making a deal with the Punjab government and is taking the case back.

Richards added: “Micheal had announced that the land will be handed back, nothing has happened, there have been late night meetings between the clergy and the government officials to take back the case. They have made a deal and have sold the land, they have stopped fearing God and have kept silent about the desecration, they are acting as if nothing happened.”

Richards went on to say: “I can proudly say that I have fought against the corrupt system and will continue my struggle. In the central Punjab, many innocent Christians are falsely charged with blasphemy, but here there was a clear desecration, but everyone kept quiet. How long will we be persecuted ? How long will we be silenced? This is our silence, which has become their strength and has brought us to the state we are in. It is time to wake up or we will lose everything. "

On the application filed by Zenobia Richards, Station House Officer, Senior Superintendent Police, City Police Officer and Lahore Development Authority officials were summoned by the Lahore High Court and questioned regarding the matter, and were asked why they allowed an illegal demolishing and desecration to occur.

They maintained they were following orders from the government. They stated the Church representatives are in constant touch with the government, and they are making some settlement regarding the matter. The court rejected the appeal to register an FIR for 295 and 295 A, due to the pressure from the Punjab government, ignoring the fact that an institution was illegally demolished and the Church and Bibles were desecrated.

Advocate Yousaf Diyal, Zenobia Richard`s lawyer said: "Richards was provided shelter and legal assistance by a humanitarian organization. It is a shame that a woman alone took a stand against the desecration, no one else stood by her. The Christian community has forgotten Gosh-e-Aman, the role of the Catholic Clergy has been very suspicious in this incident, they have been having late night meetings with Kamran Micheal and other government officials and never spoke against them, nor have they ever spoken about the desecration. If they would have wanted, they could have made history by taking a firm stand. Unfortunately the Church has become weak due to their internal affairs, and this weakness is clearly visible now."

A Senior Catholic Church official, on the condition of anonymity, said:" We have been instructed by the Church not to comment on the matter and stay silent. This is a clear matter of contempt of court for violating a stay, illegally demolishing a charitable institution and desecration of the Church, but the Church is silent. This silence is making the Christians weaker. I praise Zenobia Richards for her bold stand against the government for their atrocity and lawlessness.

“It is time to break the silence and stand for our rights, this is for our next generations, if we don’t speak up, our next generations will never forgive us."

___________________________________________________________

Rodrick Samson is a freelance journalist living in Pakistan.

Egyptian Parliament Commission Overturns Coptic Eviction Decree

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

Copts demonstrate after eight Copt families evicted

ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT (ANS) -- A public meeting was held on February 16 in Alexandria, Egypt to forcibly evict eight Coptic families from Sharbat village (Ameriya), and seize their property, based on allegations of a video clip of an illicit relationship between a Coptic man and a Muslim woman.

According to Egyptian journalist Mary Abdelmassih, writing for AINA -- the Assyrian International News Agency www.aina.org , the meeting follows the report from a fact-finding commission, made up of two Copts, two Liberals and the Salafi member of Parliament, Shaikh Sherif Hawary, who was responsible for the tribunal of February 1, met with representatives of the evicted Coptic families, the tribunal's members and two priests.

It comes after the fact-finding commission delegated by parliament went to investigate the facts surrounding the decision made on February 1 by a village tribunal, composed of villagers and parliamentary members, mostly from Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood parties.

AINA reported the commission issued a statement at the public meeting, which was attended by village residents, that all Coptic families are to return to their homes, and nullified the rulings of the tribunal of February 1.

Abdelmassih writes the commission asked for the safe return of the Abaskhayron Suleiman families to their homes, stressing their legal rights and the rule of law, which does not conflict with Sharia. The committee said the Suleimans have the right to reside in their own village. The Suleimans were not involved in any way with the alleged video clip, but were still evicted.

The news agency said the commission deferred a decision on the return of the three families of the Coptic man Mourad Girguis, accused of having the video clip in question, and the Muslims who burned down the homes of Christians, leaving these matters for the judiciary to decide.

Attorney Marian Malak, a member of the commission, said the purpose of the meeting was to set a date for the return of the Christian families back to the village, through a consensus among the people of Ameriya, but the issue of compensation to affected Copts has not yet been resolved.

According to the news agency report, Sherif Hawary, member of Parliament for Ameriya, said there was a split among the members of the commission about the term "eviction," pointing out that members of the tribunal described the departure of some Christian families to be for security reasons and fear for their own lives, while a number of other members insisted on describing what happened as eviction. Hawary prevailed, and the committee statement said the Christians left the village for security reasons.

After the reading of the statement, heated arguments broke out between some members of the delegation of the Maspero Coptic Youth Union and the parliamentary commission regarding the failure of the police to arrest the perpetrators and instigators of the torching and looting of Coptic homes during the violence on January 27th and 30th.

The AINA report says the commission said the prosecution had issued arrest warrants for some of the defendants. The Maspero delegation also asked about the woman accused of having a relationship with Mourad Girguis, as records of the prosecution investigations failed to identify her, as well as the absence of photos to prove the incident actually took place.

A question during the meeting was raised regarding whether the return of the families also includes the Mourad Girguis family, but Sheikh Sherif Hawari said that they will not come back, since what Mourad did was an "outrageous act."

Mourad Girguis was released on bail on February 15, after having been charged with spreading false rumors. Mohammad Toema, the barber who started the rumor, was also released on bail, the agency said.

"The video about a Muslim woman was not found," said member of Parliament Dr. Emad Gad, "and there is no evidence of the woman having existed. This proves that, as suspected, the accusations were fabricated in order to forcibly evict Mourad Girguis and his family from the village."

The news agency said the commission will present its findings to Parliament on Sunday.

** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

British Christian children’s worker forced to resign over Sunday working

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

Celestina Mba, formerly a carer for disabled
children in Merton, who is suing her employer
for giving her a disciplinary after she
refused to work on Sundays Photo: CLARA MOLDEN

LONDON, UK (ANS) -- A 57 year-old children's worker who was forced to resign over her desire not to work on Sundays will appear before an employment tribunal in the United Kingdom on Monday (February 20).

According to the Christan Legal Centre www.christianlegalcentre.com , Celestina Mba worked for over three years at the Brightwell Children's Home in Morden, a respite home for children with disabilities. She was forced to resign in 2010 after her employer chose to no longer accommodate her Christian beliefs.

The CLC says in a media release that Ms Mba has been a Christian since a young girl and has never worked on a Sunday. Her beliefs were initially respected by her employer, the London Borough of Merton, who were informed before she started the job that she would have difficulties working on a Sunday.

But the Council later changed its mind and she was forced to choose between her job or her faith, CLC said.

Mba said that she would have worked nights and Saturdays, unpopular shifts as people want to be with their families or go out, or would have accepted less pay, but despite her offers no compromise was accepted.

Ms Mba is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre and has instructed human rights barrister Paul Diamond to take on the case.

Andrea Williams, Director of the Christian Legal Centre said: "This is another case where we see intolerance towards the Christian faith and a lack of willingness to make accommodation for it .

"Celestina was a hard working employee who wished to observe Sunday. Her employers knew about this and agreed to it from the outset, yet later changed their minds. They forced her to choose between her job and her work.

"Surely it is possible to devise a rota system that respects and accommodates the Christian belief of employees especially where such a rota had worked successfully in the past. A public body like the London Borough of Merton should set the highest standards and not behave like this. No doubt Merton will spend considerable amounts of public money to resist this Christian lady."

___________________________________________________________

For further information, Contact: Andrea Williams, Director of Christian Legal Centre: +44 (0)771 259 1164
www.christianlegalcentre.com

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Reality of Kazakh religion law comes into focus

Kazakhstan (MNN) ― Fears about Kazakhstan's new religion laws are coming to fruition.

Forum 18 News Service reported last week that the first known use of Kazakhstan's amended religion law went into effect against a Baptist shoe-repairer and father.

Aleksei Asetov was fined what locals estimate to be about a year and a half's average wages for leading a small congregation of believers in his home, according to Forum 18.

"Apparently this was done under some provision that was introduced in the new amendments to the religion laws that we've been talking about thus far. Then this judge, I guess, also banned the congregation from meeting," explains Joel Griffith with Slavic Gospel Association.

SGA has had a close eye on the new religion laws since their inception in October, 2011. The laws seem to incorporate harsher punishments for unregistered religious groups and put into question ministry to small numbers of people or to children. SGA and its Kazakh contacts have been nervously waiting since then to see just how far these laws would go.

The situation with Asetov appears to be one clue as to how the law will be enforced. Although Asetov is not the first religious person to be fined since the new laws were introduced, he is the first to be tried under new penalties. Forum 18 reports that when prosecutors presented a case against Asetov, it was to try him under the old law's conditions. The judge apparently told the prosecutors to start over with punishment suggestions from the new law instead.

It's not a good sign for the direction of Kazakhstan, says Griffith. "At least from what I'm seeing, we're going to start more and more incidents like this from varying degrees of severity just as this new law begins to be implemented across the country."

A number of raids have indeed been conducted on religious groups since October. In one incident, officials raided a church and confiscated all of their literature and religious DVDs, claiming the church was violating the law by distributing the literature. Though the church does not seem to have been distributing it at the time, officials say they must hold onto the materials for at least two months to investigate whether or not they contain anything "negative."

This is only the beginning for this religion law in Kazakhstan, a nation that until recently has been one of the freer countries in Central Asia when it comes to religious rights.

At this point, though, there are still a number of questions as to how this law will affect its nation.

"What sort of obstacles are going to be in their way for forming a new church because of the numbers of requirements that would be imposed?" wonders Griffith. "Let's say if they're innocently trying to witness their faith out on the street, are they going to be arrested for doing so because they're outside their church building? Who knows? Are they going to be prohibited from working with children?"

For those answers, we will have to wait and pray.

Pray for the church to stay bold and encouraged. Pray that new laws would not prohibit the Gospel from spreading.

SGA will continue to assist churches as they are able. Click here for information.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Christian convert Farshid Fathi goes on trial in Iran’s Evin Prison

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

TEHRAN, IRAN (ANS) -- The trial of Farshid Fathi, a Christian convert who has been held in prison for more than a year, has finally been held after being postponed several times for various reasons.

Farshid Fathi (Courtesy Mohabat News).

According to Mohabat News www.mohabatnews.com citing “a knowledgeable source” who sent a report to the agency, Fathi had been arrested more than a year ago during a raid by security authorities in Tehran.

According to this report, the trial, which had been postponed several times, was eventually held on February 5, in a Revolutionary Court based in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.

Mohabat News said it is being reported that the court will deliver its verdict to Fathi's attorney in three months.

However, according to the penal code in Iran, the judge is obliged to issue the verdict not more than one week after the inquiries are completed.

“It seems that such illegal actions had been carried out by security and Revolutionary Courts officials in order to cause the prisoner more serious mental harm. Such actions are regarded as torture from the perspective of a prisoner,” the agency reported on its website.

Mohabat News explained that near the end of last year, when the Norouz celebrations of 1390 (Persian year) were at hand, security authorities informed Mr. Fathi's family that he could be temporarily released after submitting a bail of 200 million Tomans (equal to $200,000 USD according to the exchange rates of that time).

“But when Fathi was ready for his release at the appointed time, and even had collected all his personal belongings from the prison guards and was at the door, they prevented him from leaving the prison in order to make a negative mental impact on him,” the agency said.

The agency added: “This Christian convert is now being held in the general ward of the prison. It is also reported that he is in a good health condition and his family is allowed to visit him according to prison laws.”

Mohabat News stated that Fathi was arrested as part of a broad-planned attack by security authorities on December 26, 2010, right before New Year celebrations.

“At the same time as this attack, a large number of other Christian citizens and members of house churches were also arrested in Tehran and other cities. A majority of these detainees were temporarily released on heavy bails after some months,” the agency reported.

Farshid Fathi, who is 33 and the father of two children, was held in solitary confinement.

“During that time, he was subjected to severe interrogations by Intelligence Ministry's agents. There, he was questioned about who had he shared the gospel with and what foreign contacts he had been in touch with?”

The Mohabat News report continued: “Unfortunately, some people and organizations. who are not aware of the facts but who call themselves compassionate towards Christian prisoners, are refusing to give updates in this regard. They even prevent others from publishing news because they think it is not in the interest of Christians and could worsen their situations.

“As a result, some inaccurate reports have been published regarding Farshid Fathi. Although these people try to earn credit for themselves with respect to these prisoners, their ill-advised activities furthers the Iranian government's interest and even contributes to the continued detention of the prisoners.”

Mohabat News commented: “At a time when the General Council of the United Nations has appointed a special rapporteur to investigate human rights in Iran, this ill-informed view has helped enable the Republic Islamic of Iran to remain silent. It fosters a lack of information on the condition of prisoners and also a lack of factual reports to human rights organizations.

“Considering the large number of Christian prisoners that are being held in prisons in different cities across the country, the concern over the condition of these brothers and sisters is not only an issue for their families but it has expanded to become an issue of the whole church of Iran and a continuing prayer request for many believers around the world who share this passion.”

The agency report concluded: “Being transparent and informing the public regarding the condition of Christian prisoners, Mohabat News calls on churches everywhere to pray for the release of Christian prisoners and all other prisoners of conscience and lift their hands to Heaven in unity.”

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Christians Arrested in Shiraz, Iran

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

SHIRAZ, IRAN (ANS) -- A number of Christian converts were arrested in Shiraz after security authorities raided the residence of a Christian being used as a house church.

Shiraz is in Fars province, 934 kilometers south of the Iranian capital of Tehran.

According to the Iranian Christian News Agency Mohabat News, on Feb. 8 security authorities broke into a house where people were gathered for worship and Bible study, and arrested a number of those there.

Mohabat News said that Christians are forced to worship in small house groups, because Iran’s government is virulently Muslim and exerts heavy oversight over non-Muslims.

Mohabat News said the house was searched and service attendees were “mistreated.”

According to Mohabat News, security officers confiscated all the Bibles they found and transported those they arrested to an unknown location. Some sources have speculated that those arrested may have been transferred to the Intelligence Ministry’s Custody Center in Shiraz (known as “Pelak 100") for further interrogation.

Mohabat News said sources close to the incident told the news agency that security authorities had also searched the homes of those arrested. Evidences of their Christian faith were confiscated. Seized items included CDs, gospels, teaching booklets, Christian books, computers, faxes and satellite TV receivers.

Mohabat News said those arrested have been allowed no contact with their family. Their families are concerned about the health of their family members. Attempts to get information have failed.

Mohabat News said that during the Christmas season, many government supported news services and media, as well as Islamic websites, began to spread untrue information about Christians, especially Farsi-speaking churches. The intent was to create an atmosphere of negativity.

Mohabat News said security authorities have also tried to intimidate Christians, and since Christmas have already arrested Christians in Tehran and Ahwaz.

Mohabat News added that two Christians who were arrested during Christmas 2010 are still being held in custody with their status unknown.

Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City."

Additional details on "Homeless in the City" are available athttp://www.homelessinthecity.com. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net.

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