In Chains: Christian Persecution - 2019, Issue 1

JANUARY 1-31, 2019
I N C H A I N S
Christian Persecution
I am suffering even to the point of being
chained like a criminal.
But God’s word is not chained.
2 Timothy 2:9

T A B L E o f C O N T E N T S
4
8
10
12
17
22
25
28
31
38
42
45
54
58
60
61
Highlighted Country
Algeria
Burma/Myanmar
China
India
Indonesia
Iran
Kenya
Pakistan
Sudan
Uganda
Uzbekistan
Other Countries
Refugees
Resources
Photo Credits

N O T E F R O M L A U R A
Dear Reader,
I want to thank you for your interest in the persecuted church. This has been an issue near and dear to
me for a while. Due to family circumstances, the eMagazine had to be temporarily stopped.
Thankfully, it is back! And with a new look and some new sections!
“In Chains” is an eMagazine bringing you information and analysis on Christian persecution
worldwide. Every edition of the eMagazine reviews the previous month’s incidents. This gives time to
gather statistics and provide analysis. Many times, reports of instances don’t surface for weeks. “In
Chains” is released at the beginning of each month and reviews the previous month, bringing you, the
reader, more accurate information.
For more raw information, that comes to you as it is reported, follow PersecutedChurch Facebook page.
Each month, a different country will be selected as the “Highlighted Country.” In this section I will
write about the country and the difficulties it faces. The country is highlighted because it is often hard
to get accurate information. Sometimes, the best way is to talk about an issue, not just read the data.
Countries that don’t have enough reporting to constitute a section will be included in the “Other
Countries” section. The countries included in various sections will change month-to-month based on
reporting.
The refugee situation around the world is overwhelming. Christians are seeking refuge in many places.
Their stories will be here.
Last, there is a “Resource” page. This comprises the resources that are put out by various
organizations. They cover prayer requests, statistics on persecution, and more.
I am so glad you “picked up” this eMagazine and want to connect with you! Check out the links
below.
Do you like the magazine? Please share it! As long as you share it for free, and credit me with my
website (www.LDMurray.com), you are free to share to your heart’s delight!
As you read through these pages, please take time to pray. It is not enough to just know about our
brothers and sisters in the body, we need to be actively praying for them. For most, that is their only
request. They aren’t asking to be rescued, they simply ask for prayers.
Website
Facebook
GoodReads
LinkedIn
Blog
“Remember those who are in prison,
as though in prison with them,
and those who are mistreated,
since you also are in the body.”
Hebrews 13:3

Highlighted
Country
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
OF CONGO
Each edition, one country is
chosen to be highlighted. It is
chosen because information
about Christians is either
unavailable or indecipherable.
DRC has been chosen due to
the complex situation there.
There is so much strife,
Christian persecution is often
unreported or reported as
something else.

DRC: Extremism,
Violence, Politics,
and Christians
Laura Murray
BRIEF HISTORY
We hear so little about the violence and
persecution that goes on within the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Originally named Republic of Congo when it
gained independence from Belgium in 1960,
the DRC has vast mineral riches and is
almost entirely Christian. Like much of
Africa, the DRC has followed the pattern of:
Western colonization followed by
independence, civil war, fragmentation, and
dictatorship. The country has been riddled
with coups, assassinations, and sham
elections from its inception.
In 1965, just 5 years after it gained
independence, there was a coup. The
country was renamed Zaire and the leader,
Mobutu, remained in power for 32 years
through sham elections and through force.
This led to ethnic strife and civil war.
In 2002, the government was successful in
negotiating the withdrawal of Rwandan
forces in eastern DRC and the Pretoria
Accord was signed shortly thereafter. This
accord was signed by all warring parties to
end the Yighting and establish a uniYied
government. In 2006, the DRC held a
successful election.
There were a few years of relative stability.
Around 2009, there was a resurgence of
conYlict in the eastern DRC. The
perpetrators were called the National
Congress for the Defense of the People
(CNDP), and were primarily Tutsi. There
was a brief peace treaty, but it broke down
and the group reformed as M23.
Rwanda and Uganda backed a rebellion in
1997 that saw the regime toppled and the
country renamed. A new leader, Kabila, was
put in place. A year later, that regime was
tested with another rebellion, again backed
by Rwanda and Uganda. Many African
countries stood with the government.
However, in 2001 the leader was
assassinated and his son was named head of
state.

Because of their human rights abuses, they
were pushed out of DRC and into Uganda
and Rwanda by the UN and the DRC military.
This group is a problem to this day, but they
aren’t the only ones.
Over the past 20 years, a Uganda-born rebel
movement has taken hold in the DRC and has
gained the support of jihadist organizations.
According to the UN, this Islamist rebel
movement has been responsible for
“widespread violations of human rights and
international humanitarian law.”
In addition, the current government had not
been holding elections. The delay in holding
elections caused more violence and strife as
the people viewed it as corruption. The
election was Yinally held December 30, 2018,
years after it should have been held.
PEOPLE
The people of the DRC are poor. Despite the
country having a wealth of fertile soil,
hydroelectric power potential, and mineral
resources, the socioeconomic problems are
high. Resources are mismanaged, the people
are malnourished, water is not clean, and
sanitation is poor. Almost 30% of the
children under 5 are malnourished.
Education, health, sanitation and potable
water are very limited. Life expectancy is
around 58 years old.
CHRISTIANS
According to the CIA, 50% of DRC citizens
are Roman Catholic with another 20% being
Protestant. With Christians being such a big
majority in the country, it is hard to see how
they can be persecuted against. However, it
isn’t as easy as looking at the numbers.
The DRC is a prime example of how difYicult
it is to determine actual persecution and/or
martyrdom in today’s age. It is possible that
Christians are targeted because of what they
stand for, not necessarily because they were
witnessing or attending a church.
The Catholic Church in the DRC often works
as a peace broker between the government
and rebel groups. They try to help mediate
elections and are very vocal about the
atrocities happening in their country.
Because of that, they are often targets. Are
they being targeted because they are
Christians who stand for justice, or because
they stand for justice and happen to be
Christian? And that is the crux of the issue.
Whichever answer it is, Christians are
targeted. However, it is often unclear if it is
political or religious. These Christians are
being targeted not because of their faith, but
because of the way they live out their faith.
This makes it hard to ascertain exact
numbers in regards to persecution.
That difYiculty is not just for researchers and
theologians, but it is also hard for the media.
When reporting incidents, the religious
afYiliation of the victims/perpetrators are
often not reported. There is so much
violence in the DRC, that motives are often
neglected to be reported.
There are so many different rebel groups
that it is often hard to keep up with all the
violence, much less why it is being
perpetrated. However, some groups are not
so hard to Yigure out.
Allied Democratic Forces, now Muslim
Defense International, is an Islamist group
that targets Christians because of their
beliefs. In 2017, agencies and missionaries
were reporting that there was concern this
group was trying to establish an Islamic
caliphate in DRC.
This group is highly active in the eastern and
northern areas of DRC, targeting Christians.

2018 KNOWN
ATTACKS ON
CHRISTIANS
JANUARY A catholic priest
is kidnapped and later
released.
FEBRUARY An Islamist
attack kills 5, injures
several, and leaves many
missing.
APRIL A priest is
murdered in his home.
APRIL At least 5 lives are
lost in North Kivu.
Islamists are the culprits.
MAY At least ten people are
killed and nuns are
kidnapped in North Kivu.
SEPTEMEBER A town is
stormed by Islamists,
killing many and bringing
down buildings. Others are
massacred on the sides of
roads. Many are missing.
NOVEMBER Seven are
killed, including 2 pastors.
Also, 13 people were
kidnapped.
DECEMBER Attacks on
over 130 churches and
chapels were attacked over
the holidays. Soldiers and
police are accused of Yiring
live ammunition as the
faithful left mass.
The city of Beni has been
targeted the most. It is
predominately Christian,
h o w e v e r, t h e M u s l i m
population there has risen
from 1% to 10%.
And this is precisely what is
hard to get numbers on. The
North Kivu region has had
more than 2,500 people killed
in a three year period. The
perpetrators are armed
groups, some of which are
Islamists who are there to kill
Christians in particular. With
the area being predominantly
Christian, the media does not
report the victims being
Christian. The media just
reports the violence. The
killings that are actual cases of
persecution are mixed up with
the ones that aren’t. This is
the case in many war-torn
societies.
But it isn’t just Islamic groups
targeting Christians. The
military and police are
charged with attacking people
in churches and even
massacring them as they leave
church services.
Last year, NGOs in the region
called upon President Kabila
and the international
community to do something.
“Why are the Congolese
Government and the
international community
reluctant to describe the
targeted killings of the people
of North Kivu as a crime of
genocide?” they asked.
That is the reason the DRC is
being highlighted this month.
It is almost impossible to
ascertain how many
Christians are being killed
because they are Christian.
There is just too much
violence going on by too many
actors to be able to sift it out.
But know this, they are being
targeted and it is for their
faith. We may not be able to
see it directly because of all
the violence surrounding it,
but it is there.
And the Congolese need our
prayers and support. The new
President of the DRC needs
prayer to stand up for justice
and the rule of law. And those
perpetrating violence need
our prayers, for life changing
faith in Jesus Christ.

Algeria

Authorities Shut
Down Church Again
Reprinted with permission: Middle East Concern
Christians in Algeria request prayer for a
congregation in the Kayblie region, which
faces ongoing pressure from the authorities.
After ofYicials sealed the church building in
October 2018, the congregation continued to
meet for worship in a tent erected in the
church yard. On 28 January 2019, the
National Gendarmerie informed the owner
of the tent that it must be dismantled.
The Church of Azagher, a village near Akbou,
about 180 km south-east of Algiers has
about 300 members and is more than Yive
years old. It is a member of l’Église
Protestante d'Algérie (EPA), the legally
recognised umbrella of Protestant churches
in Algeria.
Since November 2017 most EPA-afYiliated
churches have been visited by so-called
“building-safety committees.” These
committees have not only inspected
buildings’ suitability to host meetings, but
have also been asking about licenses
required under a 2006 ordinance regulating
non-Muslim worship. However, the
government has yet to issue any licence for a
church building under this ordinance.
Several churches have since received written
orders to cease all activities. A number were
closed by authorities because they did not
have a license.
The congregation in Azaghar was visited by a
“committee” in December 2017. In February
2018 the church received a letter citing noncompliance
with safety regulations (lack of
emergency exits and Yire extinguishers). The
church Yixed those issues. However, the letter
also mentioned violations of regulations
regarding foreign visitors and noted a
violation of the building’s designated
commercial usage (poultry production). It
was sealed by the authorities on 16 October
2018.
Algerian Christians urge us to pray that:
a. church and EPA leaders would know the
Lord's peace, wisdom and guidance in the
face of the growing pressure
b. the authorities will end their systematic
campaign to close churches and limit
Christians' freedom to worship
c. churches ordered to close would soon be
permitted to re-open, and that no further
action will be taken against those churches
still under investigation
d. the regulations governing non-Muslim
worship would be amended and justly
implemented, so that Christians will be able
to worship freely
e. those responsible for the closure orders
would know the conviction of the Holy Spirit
and the forgiveness and new life offered by
Jesus

Burma
Myanmar

Pastor Tun
Abducted
Laura Murray
On January 19th, Pastor Tun was reported to
have been kidnapped, at gunpoint, by an
underground army. Pastor Tun is a field
partner to Gospel for Asia and was serving in
a Rohingya conflict area. He has been
serving for 20 years, servicing 12 fellowships
of believers.
The police, government armies, his family,
and believers in the church have been
searching for him. It is still unclear why he
was kidnapped, although the abductors did
say the leader of the underground army
wanted to ask him questions.
Myanmar (Burma) has been rated as the 18th
worst place for a Christian to live by
OpenDoors (rising 6 places in a year). The
persecution level is very high. The main
religion is Buddhism.
There are any conflicts going on within
Myanmar. There are conflicts between the
government and ethnic minorities. There are
conflicts between Buddhists, Muslims, and
Christians. There are also struggles between
various factions for control of the government.
Christians live precariously in this country as
they are seen as the enemy by many.
Especially with the exodus of the Muslim
minority (also due to persecution), Christians
are facing an increase in violence against
them.

China

New Year, Not a
New Leaf
Laura Murray
Despite the new year, the Chinese
government is not charting a new path. It is
continuing to crack down on those it deems
unfaithful to the Communist party, and that
would include Christians. This process is
termed “Sinicization” by the current Chinese
President Xi Jinping. Sinicization imposes
regulations on religious institutions in order
to ensure that the beliefs of the religion
center on what the government wants
taught.
Although this process of sinicization is new
to modern China, starting in 2018,
persecution of Christians has been going on
for quite a long time. This new process gives
legality to many of the practices that have
already been in place. It is also emboldening
the local governing bodies to reach even
further, into the private lives of citizens.
In Shanxi Province, Bitter Winter obtained a
document titled, “Implementation Plan on
the Special Governance of Private Christian
Gathering Sites.” In Henan Province, Bitter
Winter obtained a document entitled “Key
Tasks of Phase Three and Division of Labor
of Units Directly Under the Country
Government.” These documents lay out how
the government is to remove Christian
gathering sites around educational facilities.
In addition, the churches are to submit the
names of all students in their congregations.
Students and teachers will need to be “reeducated”
in accordance with the law.
Should someone need to be sent to be reeducated,
they are sent to an indoctrination
camp. There, they are subjected to torture in
an effort to get the person to blaspheme the
name of Jesus or denounce their faith. Some
are physically tortured, some are mentally
tortured, and others are subjected to both.
Jian Yongjiu stated, “For a person of faith,
being subjected to mandatory indoctrination
not only causes mental anguish but more so,
the soul is subjected to unbearable
repression and agony.”
In Xingtai, Hebei Province, as well as
Shandong and Henan, the authorities issued
an open letter forbidding underage children
from accessing religious venues. Not only
should parents not take their children to
church, but schools are also obligated in
preventing children access to religion.
This is all in the midst of a social media
crackdown by China. There are several
social media platforms that are forbidden in
China, such as Twitter and Facebook. Any
and all users face detention, which can
include assault and torture, simply for using
social media. This is because the Chinese
government wants to control what the
people see/hear about the world and what
the rest of the world sees/hears about China.

But the Chinese
government isn’t just
spying on social media,
it is actively installing
cameras everywhere in
order to actively
monitor its citizens.
This new program,
called “Sharp Eyes,” is to
monitor citizens in realtime.
A recent incident
involved a citizen
putting trash in a gutter.
Immediately he heard
his name being barked
over a loud speaker. He
immediately ended his
activities. This new
program is especially
threatening to Christians
as many are already
hiding their activities
due to persecution.
Many meet illegally, own
illegal religious
materials, or speak
about their faith,
illegally, to others.
So far, 53 religious
institutions in Xun Country, Henan Province
have had these cameras installed. Five are
now closed. Those churches who refuse to
install the cameras are closed.
Because of the persecution already going on,
many Christians have Yled to rural and
forested areas. Unfortunately, this is where
the program is focusing; rural areas.
But in Henan Province, Christians have to
worry about their neighbors as well. The
government is asking people to report
“illegal religious activities” via a hotline. If a
tipster gives up the location of a religious
gathering, they get paid 20,000 - 200,000
yuan (almost $3,000 USD). Those found to
participate in religious activities will be reeducated.
The Chinese government is on a mission to
eradicate religion. Communism can be the
only religion and the government is well on
its way to try and make that happen. The
Chinese people need our prayers. They
aren’t cowering before their government.
Our prayers are needed to give them
strength to stand up and perseverance to
endure.

INCIDENTS
Although the incident happened in
December, media outlets started reporting in
early January about the government
removing the Yirst commandment from
churches. This is the commandment
forbidding worship of any god other than
Yahweh. What made this quite unusual was
that the church was a “Three-Self Church.”
That means that the government of China
approved this church. In China, it is illegal to
be part of a church that is not registered.
However, if the church is registered, it is also
heavily regulated by the government. This
makes many believers congregate illegally in
house churches. Despite the objection of the
church members, the government team took
down the Yirst commandment, sending a
clear message: “The Chinese government
and the Communist party come before God.”
At the same time this news was breaking,
another incident that happened in December
was becoming complicated. On December 9,
about 100 members of Early Rain Covenant
Church were taken into custody. Authorities
entered homes and removed people by force.
One woman, pregnant, was forced from her
bed and interrogated. Due to the
complications that ensured after this, she
lost her baby January 9th.
to the police station for interrogation. They
were verbally abused, did not have access to
food or drink and were subjected to cold
temperatures. One member was held this
way for 48 hours before the police gave up.
A few days later, over 100 SWAT ofYicers
stormed a hotel conference room being used
by 150 Christians for a meal. “Many” people
were sent to the emergency room. The
SWAT team took pictures and blocked
mobile services to the hotel, essentially
blocking any information going out.
The same week, a kindergarten school,
founded by Xunsiding Church, was
demolished. Despite being in litigation with
the government over whether the school was
allowed to engage in education due to their
religious beliefs, the government sent police
out to restrain parents/children/teachers
and demolish the school.
Many may think that an interrogation could
not possible lead to a miscarriage. Those
people would be wrong. First, a woman can
lose her baby due to the stress of that type of
situation. However, in China it is likely much
worse than that. Interrogation is often used
to mean the person was abducted,
questioned, possibly assaulted, and possibly
tortured.
The second week of January, 36 students
were arrested while gathering at a
restaurant for an “Introduction to
Christianity” class. They conYiscated all the
cell phone and IDs then took all 36 students

ONGOING CASES
North Carolina pastor, John Cao, had his hearing postponed. He is
currently trying to get his 7 year sentence reduced. The court has
delayed the hearing until March 22. Cao was known to the authorities
to be a missionary in Myanmar. However, in March 2017, they
arrested him as he crossed the border from Myanmar to China,
attesting his movements were illegal. It is believed to be because of his
faith that he was arrested, not because he was involved in any
criminal activity.
Huang Yan, a Christian human rights defender, was granted asylum in
the United States.
In the ongoing investigation of Pastor Wang Yi, of Early Rain Covenant
Church, his members are being harassed. The church was closed
shortly after his arrest (and many others of the church). They were
arrested on charges of running illegal businesses because they sold
Bibles. Only 8 members have been released from custody on bail.
On January 24th, multiple members were threatened by police. The
police informed them “the purpose is to accuse Wang Yi.” They asked
about his Yinances and purchases. “Regarding you all, your life
depends on whether you cooperate with us. If you cooperate with us,
you will reunite with family before the Spring Festival and nothing
will happen to you.”
DETAINED OR
ARRESTED?
Sometimes it is very
confusing when reading
about people arrested
in China. Reports of
people being detained
or gone missing are
followed months later
of reports of someone
being formally arrested.
This makes everything
seem confusing.
In China, someone can
be detained for up to six
months before being
formally arrested or
charged. Many times
“missing” people are not
actually missing. They
are in the government’s
hands, but no one
knows where they are
being held. Not only are
they detained, but they
are often tortured. This
can sometimes include
being committed to a
psychiatric institution,
when there is no
indication of being
mentally ill, and being
given “treatment.”
At the six month mark,
the government must
release the individual or
charge/arrest them.
This is why you will see
a report of someone
being detained by the
government and then
months later being
formally arrested. You
aren’t arrested until you
have been charged.

India

Demolition of
Church
Reprinted with permission: Morning Star News
Hard-line Hindus on Jan. 9 tore down a
church building in southern India because it
was built on the west side of a village, which
they said violated Hindu principles of
placement and positioning, sources said.
The Vastu Shastra architectural and planning
principles, a Hindu version of Feng Shui,
were said to oppose the construction late
last year of the church building in
Narnepadu village, Muppalla Mandal, Guntur
District, in Andhra Pradesh state. Saying the
building’s placement opposed Hindu beliefs,
the village president and her husband called
a meeting of Hindus and Christians on Jan. 9.
“That morning the village president’s
husband, also a local political leader,
telephoned church pastor Koteswara Rao
and asked him to be present at the meeting
to discuss the matter, but Rao declined the
invite as he was pre-occupied with his tasks
for the day and said that he can be available
the following day,” a Narnepadu-based
pastor, Konda Lazarus, told Morning Star
News. “This annoyed the leader, and he
ordered the tribal men to demolish the
church.”
The church had met in a rented shed in the
same area in 2017, but tribal and uppercaste
Hindus who strongly believe in Vastu
Shastra collected more than 100 signatures
expressing their objection to Christian
worship in the location, Pastor Lazarus said.
“Rao and Christians stopped gathering for
prayers,” he said. “Last year, area Christians
purchased a piece of land in the same
locality hoping to construct a church and
gather for prayers regularly. They invited
Pastor Rao and, since December 2018, the
church started anew.”
The Muppala Mandal Pastors Fellowship of
Guntur District encouraged Pastor Rao’s
ministry in Narnepadu village, he said.
“There has been opposition, and it had been
dealt with peacefully so far as we
understand that villagers do not have
awareness about our rights, and do not
really understand why Christians gather for
prayers,” Pastor Lazarus said. “Most of the
residents are illiterate and only follow the
instructions of the village elders: If the
elders think having a church to the west is
evil, it is evil. They don’t try to reason
beyond that.”
Church leaders Yiled a complaint with
Muppalla police, who told them they would
Yile a First Information Report (FIR) soon,
Pastor Lazarus said. A Hindu leader from the
area identiYied only as Devendra, however,
has asked the pastor not to register a case
and to settle the issue amicably, he said.
“But we could see no sign of confession or
acknowledgement of crime among the

attackers or the leaders who provoked
them,” Pastor Lazarus told Morning Star
News. “The discussion hasn’t yielded any
positive outcome. Hence, we are hoping the
police book a case and conduct a fair
investigation.”
India this year cracked the top 10 on
Christian support organization Open Doors’
2019 World Watch List of countries where
Christians experience the most persecution,
ranking 10 th , up from 11 th the previous year.
“We stopped, and the person driving the car
could see the Bible verses written on the
van, and he started abusing us in vulgar
language,” Gunti told Morning Star News. “He
made some calls, and within a few minutes,
about 15 to 20 people had gathered. Then
they started beating me and unloaded the
van, dumped all the Bibles and Christian
literature at one place and lit Yire.”
Video of the incident the Hindus circulated
on social media does not show how they
beat Gunti before setting the Christian
literature on Yire, the 51-year-old father of
three said.
“At least 350 Bibles were burned, but we did
not stop,” Gunti said. “That week we
continued sharing gospel. We must seek
strength from the Lord and must strive to do
more work.”
If Christ’s disciples and missionaries
throughout history had stopped when they
faced persecution, the gospel wouldn’t have
reached him or his friends, he said.
Bibles Ablaze
Earlier in neighboring Telangana state,
radical Hindus stopped a Christian group’s
van and set Bibles and gospel tracts on Yire,
sources said.
In the Kismatpur area southwest of
Hyderabad, Christians on Dec. 11 were on
their way to meet friends at a construction
site after a Christmas-themed outreach of
singing and passing out tracts and Bibles,
said one of the Christians, veterinarian Noah
Gunti.
Realizing their construction worker friends
had been sent to another site, they were
returning to the main road when a car
darted in front of them, nearly hitting the
van, he said.
“They target us because they are ignorant,
they do not know what they are doing,” he
said. “Governments cannot protect us from
persecution. Any kind of protests or
representation to the authorities will not
help. We should not be afraid to be used by
the Lord, in fact we must be prepared to be
persecuted.”
Church Attacked
Also in Telangana state, a Christian’s request
to an upper-caste Hindu neighbor that he not
dump construction debris at a church site in
a suburb of Hyderabad led to a group of
radical Hindus attacking a church – and
police Yiling a FIR against the Christians.
The upper-caste Hindu who dumped the
construction trash on Hebron Church
premises in Jagathgir Gutta had regularly

played loud music or Hindu devotional songs
during worship services to disturb the
Christians, said a 36-year-old church
member identiYied only as Pramod.
When a pastor identiYied only as Allageshan
on Dec. 21 requested the neighbor clear
away the debris before a service at the site,
the Hindu became furious and beat him,
telling him to mind his own business,
Pramod said.
“They refused to clean their trash and told
the pastor to go complain against them,”
Pramod told Morning Star News. “I went to
meet my pastor and told him that now that
they have become violent, he must inform
the police, but he refused to do so.”
As Christian youths went to prepare the
building for the evening service, Hindu
neighbors followed them on motorbikes,
taunting them in vulgar language when they
stopped at a tea stall for snacks, he said.
“They mocked the youths, saying, ‘Hey look
at these cowards – spineless fellows! We
attacked their pastor, but they have no guts
to speak up,’” he said.
They drove recklessly around the Christian
youths on their motorbikes trying to provoke
a Yight, he said.
“There was a clash between the groups,”
Pramod said. “The youths managed to
escape from there and went to church, back
to their work of cleaning and unrolling the
carpets, making preparations. But they did
not share about the attack, and within 10 to
15 minutes, a mob of over 40 Hindu
extremists struck the main gate.”
The assailants were shouting vulgarities, he
said.
“I rushed to rescue the youths and tried to
videotape what was happening,” Pramod
told Morning Star News. “But they pinned
me down like wrestling champions and
bruised my left eye. My phone was taken
away, and I was lying there helplessly.”
His father received word that he was beaten
and came running from their house four
streets away, he said.
“They pushed him, and he too collapsed,”
Pramod said. “They were heavily drunk and
attacked us like wrestling or boxing
champions in rage. I’m sure they must be
professionals. I lifted my 62-two-year old
father, and we both went to Jagathgir Gutta
police station in that condition.”
Police refused to take their complaint, saying
the written report was not in the proper
format, he said.
“Then, a day later, the area’s circle inspector
changed the version, and Yiled it as a dispute
between both parties so they could book
cases against me and my dad,” Pramod said.
“I was shocked when the inspector told me
that he has no other option but to send my
dad and me to remand. They booked an FIR
against us.”
While the inspector did not follow through
on his threat to take them into custody,
Jagathgir Gutta police registered case against
Pramod and his father, fabricating a charge
of “voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous
weapons” under Section 324 of the Indian
Penal Code, he said
Open Opposition
On Dec. 31 in Andhra Pradesh state, police
stood by as Hindu women knocked down a
temporary wall Christians had erected as a
barrier against cold winds during a New
Year’s Eve service, sources said.
Church members in Kothagudem village,

West Godavari District, had returned to their
homes at about 8 p.m. and were planning to
gather again in an hour, Pastor Shyam
Sunder told Morning Star News. The choir
was still singing at the site, he said.
“Within about 15 minutes, neighboring
Hindu women barged inside and destroyed
the wall, right in the presence of police,”
Pastor Sunder said. “Yet we continued the
prayer service and later Yiled a complaint in
Ungaturu police station.”
Local village leaders and Hindu families said
they would cover the costs and pleaded with
the Christians not to Yile a case, he said.
Upper-caste Hindus opposed reconstruction
of the aging, original church building last
year, applying pressure on authorities to
deny permission. A junior civil judge ruled in
June that reconstruction could begin and
directed opposing parties not to interfere,
but a local Hindu ofYicial has yet to grant
permission for the reconstruction, the pastor
said.
The hostile tone of the National Democratic
Alliance government, led by the Hindu
nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, against
non-Hindus, has emboldened Hindu
extremists in several parts of the country to
attack Christians since Prime Minister
Narendra Modi took power in May 2014,
religious rights advocates say
Other
Highlights
Court Rules in Favor of
Christian Missionary
Doctor Philip, Indian-born but USA citizen,
has the right to practice his faith and offer his
services for free… even if that involves
propagating his faith.
This is a huge step forward for missionary
activities in India, which have recently been
even more restrictive.
Check it out here.
Trouble In Gujurat as
Signs Go Up Banning Christians
Tribes in Gujarat are putting up signs
banning Christians from entering their
village.
The reason? Christianity is growing.
Check it out here.

Indonesia

Governor Ahok
Released!
Reprinted with permission: International Christian Concern
International Christian Concern (ICC) has
learned that on January 24, 2019, the former
Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama,
an ethnic Chinese Christian politician, was
released from prison after serving nearly
two years on blasphemy charges. The former
governor, commonly known as “Ahok,”
walked free from Mako Brimob detention
facility and was welcomed by his son
Nicholas Sean.
The former governor was found guilty of
blasphemy for a comment he made, quoting
the Quran while campaigning for re-election.
The verdict raised the question of
Indonesia’s claimed freedom of religion and
remains a controversial issue ahead of this
April’s presidential election.
In a letter to supporters that was shared on
Twitter last week, he thanked God for
allowing him to lose the gubernatorial
election and serve his prison term. If he had
won, he believes that he would have only
become “more arrogant, ruder” and hurt the
feelings of many others.
“I also want to apologize to Ahokers [my
supporters], all of Jakarta’s civil servants,
even my haters, of all the things that I’ve said
and done that have hurt you and your family,”
he said.
nickname “Ahok,” he added, “I am sorry and I
hope that you will call me BTP now, not Ahok.”
Jacob F. Lesmana, an ethnic Chinese
Christian in Jakarta told ICC, “Ahok really
fulIills the criteria of being a leader who can
inspire many people both in terms of people of
faith and on the secular side. The main reason
is that he has a set purpose in life so his vision
is clear. He understands his calling and what
he lives for. All the principles of his life are
guided by the biblical principle of Truth. It
takes a lot to build a life like his.”
BTP's lawyer Teguh Samudera said the
former governor plans to venture into the oil
business next, while also hosting a talk show.
He will also fulYill previously arranged
speaking engagements in New Zealand,
Japan, and Europe.
Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager, said,
“While we rejoice at the early release of BTP
given a granted remission last December, he
should never have been imprisoned in the Iirst
place. He was not the only victim of
Indonesia’s blasphemy law. He will likely not
be the last one either if the Indonesian
government continues to yield to radical
Islamists’ requests instead of honoring
religious freedom for all citizens.”
Urging his supporters to call him by his
Indonesian initials “BTP” and not his Hakka

Pressure to Close
Church
Reprinted with permission: International Christian Concern
International Christian Concern (ICC) has
learned that on January 13, 2019, masses
from the Griya Martubung Complex, Medan
Labuhan Subdistrict in Indonesia’s North
Sumatra held a protest against a house that
was allegedly converted into a place of
worship for Bethel Indonesia Church. In a
video obtained by ICC, local residents
surrounded Pastor Jans Fransman Saragih's
residence as Sunday service was about to
commence. They pushed and shouted at
church members, before demanding them to
shut down.
A member of the church shared the video on
Instagram and said, “We didn’t do things that
were prohibited. Where is justice in this
country? Where is our religious tolerance?
God is with us.”
The head of the Medan Ministry of Religion
OfYice, Al Ahyu, conYirmed the incident and
explained that the residents protested
because the house did not have permission
to operate as a place of worship, as
stipulated by government regulations. Local
residents had already Yiled a complaint last
August, but Pastor Jans Fransman did not
agree to stop worship at his house until
November. He was supposed to halt services
once the new year came, but he did not,
leading to the January 13 protest.
permits to build places of worship in the
predominantly Muslim nation of Indonesia.
Christian leaders have called for changes to
legislation and complained about the
obstacles facing churches that are
attempting to obtain a permit.
Nitha Fenita, a Christian broadcaster at
Cristy Radio, shared her thoughts with ICC,
“This would be a big problem in a country
known for its tolerance. I would describe it as
a household with two religions and the
members often have disputes about their
beliefs. If there is no tolerance allowed, the
relationship between the two parties would
be inversely related [where one increases,
another one decreases]. Perhaps the
authorities can help manage the issues once
or twice, but we have to be aware that this rift
will be exploited by other [groups with
political] interests which ultimately could
divide the Indonesian people. Educating this
family on tolerance is a very urgent matter
and it needs to be taught now.”
However, at present, it is extremely difYicult
for non-Muslims to obtain the proper

Iran

Refusing to Recant Their Faith, Two
Iranian Christians Face Years in Prison
In September 2018, Mr. Fadaie and Ms.
Bakhteri were sentenced to 18 and 12
months in prison. Mr. Faudaue also received
2 years of exile in a remote area near
Afghanistan. This is on top of his 10 year
sentence that he is serving in Evin Prison.
On January 15th, these two Christians
refused to renounce Jesus during their court
appearance on their appeal.
Read the full story here.
Five Converts Arrested (Middle East Concern)
Iranian Christians request prayer following
the arrests of Yive female converts from
Islam to Christianity. These include Ruhsari
Kamberi, a 65-year old who was arrested
and detained in Karaj, and forced to endure
ten days of intensive interrogation.
Early one morning, shortly before Christmas
2018, Ruhsari Kamberi was arrested at her
home by three members of Iranian
intelligence. They searched her residence,
conYiscating mobile phones, Bibles and
other Christian materials, then took her to
the intelligence ofYices for questioning.
Fewer details are available concerning four
other female Christian converts, from
different church groups, who were arrested
at the same time.
Ruhsari was interrogated from morning
until evening for ten consecutive days, then
released after paying 30 million Toman bail.
Two weeks ago she was brought before the
prosecutor to answer charges of “acting
against national security” and forced to go to
a religious leader to be “instructed” and
offered the opportunity to return to Islam.
Friends of Ruhsari have been shocked by
this disrespectful treatment towards an
disrespectful treatment towards an elderly
woman and report that she has been very
upset by her experience. They request prayer
that:
• God will help all Christians who are
arrested and interrogated in Iran to stand
Yirm in the faith
• God will bring his peace, comfort, and
encouragement to Ruhsari and the other
women arrested at the same time.
• God will also bring his comfort to
Ruhsari’s husband and children and the
relatives of the other women
• Those people responsible for the
mistreatment of the women and the
violations of their rights will repent of
their actions.
Two Converts Arrested (Middle East Concern)
Iranian Christians request prayer for two
converts who were recently arrested and
detained.
Human Rights group Article 18 reports that
on 23 January, Sina Moloudian (26), was
arrested in Esfahan and then on 25 January
Ismaeil Maghrebinejad (64) was arrested in
Shiraz.
Iranian intelligence agents arrived at the
house of Sina Moloudian without producing
an arrest warrant, broke down the door and
arrested Sina in front of his parents. The
agents conYiscated his computer, phone, Bible
and other Christian materials, as well as a
cross. Witnesses saw him being dragged out
of his house with bruising around his eyes.
Later, he was able to call his family to say that
he was going to be taken to court to face
charges and that he was being held in
Dastgerd Prison, although the Iranian
authorities later denied this.
Ismaeil Maghrebinejad (64), who converted
in the 1980’s and has experienced
considerable difYiculties on account of his
faith, reportedly including an attempt on his

life, was arrested in Shiraz on 25 January.
Security agents then took him to his house
and conducted a search without producing a
search warrant and conYiscated his laptop,
phone and Christian books. Ismaeil has now
been released on bail.
Iranian Christians request prayer that:
• Sina will be released soon and the he will
quickly recover from the physical abuse.
• God will comfort and strengthen both
men and their families through these
ordeals.
• Iranian authorities will stop the
intimidation of Christian converts and
other religious minorities in Iran.
CHRISTIAN PRISONERS IN IRAN
CLICK ON NAMES TO SEE PROFILES
Naser Navard Gol-Tapeh
Ebrahim Firouzi
Sevada Aghasar
Majidreza Souzanchi Kushani
Yousef Nadarkhani
Yaser Mosibzadeh
Saheb Fadaie
Mohammadreza Omidi
Benham Ersali
David Rasooli
Farzad Behzadizadeh
Abdollah YouseYi
Amir Taleipour
Mahnaz Harati
Be aware that these are the known names of those
imprisoned. Unfortunately, many are not known.

Kenya

Beaten & Arrested
Reprinted with permission: Morning Star News
Muslim policemen on Saturday (Jan. 19) beat
and arrested a Christian man on the
outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya in retaliation for
refusing to recant Christianity, sources said.
am better dying with my family than going
back to Islam.”
Accompanied by two Muslims of Somali
descent who had attacked him previously,
the policemen arrived at the home where
Hassan (surname withheld for security
reasons) lives with his widowed mother, and
the ofYicers along with the two others
punched, kicked, trampled and struck him
with blunt objects, relatives said.
“The police arrived and carried Hassan away
with blood Ylowing from his body,” his
mother told Morning Star News, adding that
one of the ofYicers was a Muslim relative of
Somali descent who has habitually joined
other Somali Muslims resident in Nairobi in
attacking her son. In Saturday’s attack,
Hassan lost teeth and suffered leg, chest and
back injuries, she said.
Initially police took him to Ngong police
station, where his mother’s pleas compelled
them to take him to a medical clinic for
treatment. The next day they transferred
him to a police jail in Nairobi’s Industrial
Area. His mother visited him there on
Wednesday (Jan. 23) and said he was in bad
condition.
“My son’s leg is bruised, he has serious chest
and back pain, he is unable to walk and some
of his teeth were removed,” she said. “My
family is in danger, where are we going to
hide ourselves? I cannot go back to Islam. I
At this writing, Morning Star News was
unable to reach a police representative about
the brutal arrest or what charges Hassan
might face. When his mother asked police
why he was being held without charges on
Thursday (Jan. 24), an ofYicer directed her to
the Muslim relative who was one of the
policemen attacking Hassan. Suspecting the
relative was going to demand a bribe, she
said she would not talk with him.
The assailants planned the attack, which
took place outside Hassan's home in the
Bulbul area of Ngong, 26 kilometers (16
miles) southwest of Nairobi, after he and
other relatives declined to renounce their
faith in exchange for Yinancial help, she said.
The formerly Muslim family migrated from
Somalia after Hassan’s father died.

A Muslim neighbor had invited Hassan, his
mother (name withheld for security
reasons) and two siblings to Jamia Mosque
in central Nairobi, one of Kenya’s most
prominent mosques, on Dec. 3, telling them
that Muslim leaders there could help them
with their Yinancial needs, relatives said.
At the mosque, they were introduced to a
wealthy Arab who told them they could
receive support, and later they were taken to
his house on Mombasa Road, they said. Their
Yirst indication of trouble came when a non-
Muslim worker there from the ethnic Luhya,
a Bantu group, advised them that things may
not be go well for them if they were
Christians.
Hassan’s mother said they were surprised
when the wealthy Arab and other Muslims
told them that Yinancial help was conditional
on them renouncing Christianity.
“We were promised Yinancial support for the
school fees of the children and general
upkeep of the family, but they were
categorical that Muslims have no relation
with inYidels,” Hassan’s mother told Morning
Star News. “To this, I refused to recant my
faith in Christ.”
The family had initially accepted the offer of
Yinancial support, but when it became
conditional on renouncing their faith and
they refused, their Muslims hosts became
angry, and the Christians had to Ylee the
house, they said.
Hassan’s mother said that on Dec. 20
relatives suffered an attack in Jamu, in
Somalia on the border with Kenya, where
she maintains her ancestral home. Unknown
assailants destroyed the roof and bashed
gaping holes in the walls where one of her
sons was living with his frail and ailing
grandmother, she said.
Muslim relatives in Jamu on Dec. 15 had
questioned her son about his absence from
Friday mosque prayers, she said. The widow
said she has recently received anonymous
threats from Jamu threatening to do away
with her family, and that she has received
threatening text messages from the area
since she sent him to live there two years
ago.
The family has suffered at the hands of
Somali Muslims in Nairobi for several years.
On Feb. 7, 2016, Muslim relatives beat
Hassan unconscious after discovering that
the family was holding secret Christian
meetings.
Muslim Somalis in Nairobi had seriously
injured Hassan on Oct. 27, 2011, when a
gang attacked him after they learned that
family members had become Christian. The
Somali neighbors hit him with a metal bar on
his forehead and face, and he lost two teeth
and sustained knife wounds to his hand.
They left him for dead.
Somali Muslims in Nairobi have also
attacked his mother. “I have suffered several
persecutions from the Muslims for
converting to Christianity,” she said. “My
stomach is ailing from the attack I suffered
few years ago. I cannot stand in an upright
position. I and my family have chosen the
cause of Christ. No turning back.”

Pakistan

One Acquitted,
Two Sentenced to
Death
Reprinted with permission: Morning Star News
A judge in Pakistan has acquitted a Christian
accused of blasphemy one month after two
Christians were sentenced to death in an
online blasphemy case, sources said.
Kasur District Additional Sessions Judge Ijaz
Ahmed Bosal dropped charges against
Pervaiz Masih, 38, on Jan. 15 after
prosecutors failed to submit any evidence
against him.
Masih’s attorney, Aneeqa Maria of The Voice
Society, told Morning Star News the
prosecution failed to present even one
witness against him during the three-year
trial in Punjab Province. The case against
him was registered on Sept. 2, 2015.
Maria said this was also one of the rare cases
under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy
laws in which the accused was granted bail
just 20 days after the submission of the
charge-sheet against him.
“The acquittal is good news for Masih and
his family, but they have suffered a lot in the
last three years,” she said. “Even though
Masih is free from the charges, I have serious
concerns for his security. He has been
declared a blasphemer by the local Muslims,
and his life will always be at risk.”
Masih’s family has said area Muslims
entrapped him in a false blasphemy case
after he obtained a sand contract in Garra
village, near Mandi Usmanwala in Kasur
District. Pervaiz Masih’s brother, Jamshed
Masih, told Morning Star News at that time
that the family was unaware of any
accusations until the village mosque’s prayer
leader began spreading word that Pervaiz
Masih had blasphemed Islam’s prophet,
Muhammad, during a discussion a few weeks
prior.
Jamshed Masih said that 300 to 400 Muslims
of the village and surrounding areas shouted
chants against the Christians and vowed to
avenge alleged “disrespect” of their prophet
by burning his brother alive.
Pervaiz Masih had obtained a contract for
sand from a local dealer at a better price
than that of his Muslim competitors, Haji
Muhammad Jamshed and Haji Muhammad
Bashir, and since then they had nurtured a

grudge against him, his brother said. On
Sept. 1, 2015, Jamshed and Bashir began
spreading word that Masih had disrespected
Muhammad, he said.
Masih was arrested on Sept. 2, 2015, under
Section 295-C of the blasphemy law, which
calls for death or life imprisonment for
blaspheming Muhammad. A day before he
was arrested, a large police contingent had
raided Masih’s village and beat his female
relatives and other Christians in their search
for him, his wife told Morning Star News.
Masih’s wife, Zarina Bibi, told Morning Star
News at that time that police ofYicers kicked
family members and struck them with their
Yists and batons.
“The police just wouldn’t listen to our pleas
that we did not know Masih’s whereabouts,”
she said. “They searched all Christian houses
in the village and tortured everyone they
came across.”
Death Sentences
On Dec. 13, two Christian brothers were
sentenced to death under Pakistan’s
blasphemy law.
Jehlum District Additional Sessions Judge
Javed Iqbal handed Qaiser and Amoon Ayub
the death sentence for allegedly posting
blasphemous content on their website, said
Joseph Francis of the Center for Legal Aid,
Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS).
“But Qaiser insists that he had closed his
website in 2009, but that a Muslim friend
somehow had been able to take the website
back online while keeping it in Qaiser’s
name,” Francis told Morning Star News.
Francis said that CLAAS has Yiled an appeal
against the trial court’s verdict in the Lahore
High Court.
“We hope that the high court will judge the
case on merit, because we believe that the
trial judge has convicted the brothers
without considering the circumstances,” he
said.
Francis said that both brothers are married,
and Qaiser has three children.
Arrested in 2014, they were tried in the
Jehlum District Jail due to security reasons.
Francis told Morning Star News that the two
brothers had Yled Pakistan in 2010 after a
quarrel with some Muslims friends, and
when they returned four years later, police
arrested them on charges of blasphemy.
Christian mother Aasiya Noreen, better
known as Asia Bibi, was on death row for
nine years after a wrongful conviction for
blasphemy. She was acquitted and released
on Nov. 7 but remains in protective custody
until the ruling is reviewed.
Violator of Religious Freedom
On Nov. 28 the United States added Pakistan
to its blacklist of countries that violate
religious freedom, ramping up pressure over
the treatment of minorities in the country.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a
Dec. 11 statement that he had designated
Pakistan as a Country of Particular Concern
(CPC) in a congressionally mandated annual
report, meaning the U.S. government is
obliged to exert pressure to end freedom
violations.
Pompeo a year earlier had placed Pakistan
on a special watch list – a step short of the
designation – in what had been seen as a U.S.
tactic to press Islamabad into reforms.
“In far too many places across the globe,
individuals continue to face harassment,
arrests or even death for simply living their
lives in accordance with their beliefs,”

Pompeo said. “The United States will not
stand by as spectators in the face of such
oppression.”
Nine countries remained for another year on
the list – China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar,
North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan
and Turkmenistan. They are accused of
having engaged in or tolerated “systematic,
ongoing, [and] egregious violations of
religious freedom.”
Although the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)
has long recommended Pakistan be
designated as a CPC, the U.S. State
Department had never done so.
The USCIRF report this year noted that
religious minorities in Pakistan continued to
face attacks from extremist groups and
society at large. It also noted that “abusive
enforcement of the country’s strict
blasphemy laws result[s] in the suppression
of rights for non-Muslims, Shia and
Ahmedis.”
Pakistan ranked Yifth on Christian support
organization Open Doors 2019 World Watch
list of the 50 countries where it is most
difYicult to be a Christian.

Asia Bibi Finally
Free to Leave
Pakistan
Reprinted with permission: International Christian Concern
International Christian Concern (ICC) has
learned that the Supreme Court of Pakistan
has conYirmed the acquittal of Asia Bibi, a
Christian woman formally sentenced to
death for allegedly committing blasphemy.
The decision to conYirm the acquittal was
announced by a new three judge bench led
by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa.
Bibi was accused of committing blasphemy
in 2009 and was the only woman in
Pakistan’s history to be sentenced to death
under the country’s notorious blasphemy
laws. In announcing the decision to uphold
Bibi’s acquittal, Chief Justice Asif Saeed
Khosa said, “Based on merit, this petition is
dismissed.”
“Justice and truth has prevailed,” Sajid
Christopher, President of Human Friends
Organization, told ICC. “Our hats are off to the
judges. Asia is completely free now.”
“The review was not a rehearing of the case,”
Saif-Ul-Malook, Bibi’s Supreme Court
Advocate, told the media after the decision
was announced. “The court allowed the
review just to make them satisIied that
nothing on the record could be turned against
the judgement.”
On October 31, 2018, Pakistan’s Supreme
Court announced that they had acquitted
Bibi of the blasphemy charges that had kept
her on death row for nearly a decade. In
explaining its decision, the court said that
there was ultimately not enough evidence to
convict Bibi.
Following the announcement of the
acquittal, thousands of religious hardliners
took to the streets in protest. These
protesters demanded the court review its
decision and not allow Bibi to leave Pakistan
until that review had taken place.
Since her acquittal, Bibi has remained in the
custody of Pakistani authorities at a secure
location inside the country. According to
those in contact with Bibi, her conditions at
this secure location remain eerily similar to
prison. Friends of Bibi’s family explained
that Bibi was not even able to open a
window in her hideout.
Bibi was on death row since her conviction
and death sentence were announced by the
Sessions Court in Sheikhupura in 2010. The
blasphemy accusation against Bibi was
based on Ylimsy evidence following a dispute
that took place in June 2009 between Bibi
and a group of Muslim coworkers with
whom she had been harvesting berries in
Sheikhupura. The Muslim coworkers became
angry with Bibi when she, a Christian whom
they considered unclean, drank water from
the same water bowl as the Muslims. An
argument between Bibi and the Muslim
women ensued and later the Muslim
coworkers reported to a local cleric that Bibi

had blasphemed against the Prophet
Muhammad.
ICC’s Regional Manager, William Stark, said,
“We here at ICC are excited to see that Asia’s
acquittal has been upheld. Our prayers now
are with Asia and her family as they are in
extreme danger until they are safely out of
Pakistan. We are also very concerned for the
safety of Pakistan’s Christian community at
large. Asia’s case remains highly sensitive and
the ignition point for many acts of religious
hatred. It is our hope that Pakistan’s security
forces will be able to protect all Pakistani
Christians as extremists will likely seek
revenge against their community.”
NOTE FROM LAURA:
It has been reported by Asia Bibi’s lawyer
that she has been reunited with her family in
Canada. No more information has been
given.
It is also being reported that her lawyer is
seeking refuge from European countries.
Because of Asia Bibi’s acquittal, he is being
targeted for aiding her.

Other
Highlights
Two women, aged 20 and 11, have been
arrested over false charges, then
tortured and sexually abused by the
police. Their families have tried to pay
bail for their release and the police
refuse to do so.
Human rights groups are trying to put
pressure on Pakistan to free the girls.
Pakistan government, in response to not
providing adequate security to churches,
is not forcing the churches to provide it
themselves. The majority of churches in
Pakistan are poor and unable to provide
for their own security.
The Pakistan government is threatening
to close any church that does not meet
the standard for security.
A former Imam converted to Christianity
and started an underground church. He
was beaten “half dead” by a mob, then
he fled to Germany.
He is now receiving threats in Germany
from his family in Pakistan and fears
reprisal.
A Christian Pakistani, living in the UK,
was denied asylum status and has been
forcibly deported back to Pakistan. His
family, friends, and church members fear
for his life.
According to reports, he was not allowed
to plea his case before the Home Office.
Thousands signed a petition supporting
him, but the petition was ignored.

Sudan

Kidnapped and
Tortured but Won’t
Recant
Reprinted with permission: Morning Star News
A Christian mother from Sudan had deep
cause for fear last November when her
Muslim brother went to her church in Cairo,
Egypt with a photo of her husband and
asked members if they knew his
whereabouts.
Muslim extremists from Sudan had
kidnapped and tortured her less than two
years earlier in Cairo, and they threatened to
kill her husband and daughter if she refused
to return to Islam.
The 42-year-old Ebtehaj Alsanosi Altejani
Mostafa was tied to a chair in a darkened
room with no windows when her abductors
gave her that ultimatum in February 2017,
she told Morning Star News.
“I will not go back to Islam – I hate Islam,”
she told them, as they continued beating her,
Mostafa said.
She had Yled to Egypt in 2005 after being
jailed Yive times for her faith in Sudan. In
Cairo she met a Sudanese pastor, also a
convert from Islam, who would become her
husband; he had also Yled persecution in
Sudan. Since she was kidnapped, tortured
and raped in February 2017, Mostafa and
her family have had to change residences
several times due to the Sudanese Muslim
extremists’ threats on their lives.
She still takes medication for the physical
and psychological trauma she suffered after
two Sudanese Muslim extremists kidnapped
her as she was on her way to a market in
2017. They called her name, grabbed her,
covered her nose and mouth, twisted her
hands and sprayed some chemical on her
that left her unconscious, she said.
They took her to the windowless room in an
unknown house where they poured water on
her, pulled her hair and tied her hands and
legs to a chair, all the while shouting her
name. Covering her eyes, they reminded her
of her Islamic upbringing in Sudan, and how
after her school years she moved with her
family to Saudi Arabia. Her Sudanese father,
they reminded her, is a sheikh (Islamic
teacher) in Saudi Arabia, she said.
“You are disgrace to your Muslim family, you
brought shame to the family,” they shouted
as they struck her, she said. “You are

‘kaYira’ [inYidel].”
They said she must divorce her husband and
return to her Sudanese family in Saudi
Arabia in order to save her life. It was then
that they further threatened to kill her
husband and daughter, now 11, if she
refused.
After she told them she would rather die
than return to Islam, one of the kidnappers
brought a copy of the Koran and began
reciting verses that call for the killing of
those who leave Islam. Between verses they
shouted, “Allahu Akbar,” the jihadist slogan,
“God is greater,” she said.
The extremists then untied her, forced her to
lie on the Yloor and ripped her clothes. In
spite of her pleas to stop, they raped her in
turns, she said.
“This is lesson number one,” one of the men
told her.
After leaving the room brieYly, they returned
and began spitting on her as they insulted
her with obscenities, describing her as
“adulterous” for being the wife of a pastor,
she said. One of the men was taking photos
and video.
Four other men entered the room, two
Sudanese and two Egyptians. By now her
eyes were no longer covered. The Egyptians,
she said, were called Abu Mahmoud and Abu
Ali.
“This time I saw them clearly,” she said.
One of the new arrivals ordered her to
repeat the shahada, the Islamic profession of
faith, after him. When she refused, he had
one of the others shove her onto the chair
and tie her hands and legs again; her chest
and back were in great pain, she said.
Placing a cup of water and a piece of bread
on the Yloor, they tried to force her to take
them, but she refused.
After leaving the room for a while, they
returned and covered her eyes as they
discussed whether to keep her on the chair.
They then forced her to kneel at length,
paining her legs, and one of the men sat on
the chair and began smoking a cigarette.
The man burned her back with the cigarette
26 times trying to force her to say the
shahada, she said. They laughed with each
cigarette burn, she said; the room was full of
smoke.
They tied her to the chair again. Refusing
their ultimatum again, she was slapped on
her face and kicked several times, she said,
as they continued ordering her to renounce
Christ and save her life.
“Baya [a nickname for Ebtehaj], say the
shahada and confess that Muhammad is the
prophet of God,” they told her.
Mostafa collapsed to her left. They left her in
the dark room. When they returned, they
turned on the light and asked if she wanted
to say something.
“You are tired, did you change your mind?
Are you sure you want to keep with Jesus?”
they asked her in turns.
They again tried to force her to say the
Muslim profession of faith, and when she
again refused, they asked her why she
worships three gods: Mary, Jesus and God.
“This is not true, I believe in God the Father,
God the Son and God the Holy Spirit – one
God,” she told them.
Before leaving the room, they told her that
this was her last chance to return to her old
religion before they are allowed to kill her.

After few minutes they returned, carrying a
Muslim prayer mat.
“This is your last day with us,” one of them
said.
They put a container of water in front of her
to wash herself and say the Muslim
confession, but she again refused. She was
given a niqab, the Muslim head covering for
women that leaves only the eyes exposed,
along with many papers for her to sign, as
one of the men continued taking photos and
videos, she said.
After several attempts to force her to sign
the papers saying she had returned to Islam,
they hurt her hands as they forced her
against her will to sign one of the papers, she
said. Then she felt a blow to the back of her
head and lost consciousness.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION IS
DISCRIMINATING AGAINST CHRISTIANS
Bishops in Sudan are accusing the Ministry
of Education of not appointing teachers for
Christian education and for not including
Christians holidays in the ofYicial school
calendars.
This comes during a Religious Freedoms
Workshop that highlighted the problems
Christians face in regards to church
demolitions, land seizures and registering
children.
When she came to, she found herself on a
street with people and cars passing by, she
said.
Prior to her abduction, Mostafa had received
a phone call from one of her sisters telling
her that her uncle and brother were
planning to hurt her, she said. Her uncle, a
prominent ofYicer in Sudan’s notorious
National Intelligence and Security Services
(NISS), also has large inYluence as the
military attaché in Sudan’s Foreign Ministry
in Khartoum and can easily move between
Sudan and Saudi Arabia, where his brother
lives, she said.
Mostafa said she is trusting that God has His
purposes for her abduction, and that her
purpose in revealing it was that the
international community would know what
kinds of pressures Sudanese converts face in
Egypt.
“Our God is able, and I am now alive,” she
said.

Uganda

Kidnapped and
Tortured but Won’t
Recant
Reprinted with permission: Morning Star News
Muslims in eastern Uganda sent a Christian
mother to the hospital with injuries from a
beating in one village and tore down a
church building in another, sources said.
Both the woman and the pastor of the
destroyed church building fear their lives
could be in danger.
“Today we have come to warn you that you
should avoid noisy prayers and the use of
Issa [Jesus] in your prayers,” the four
assailants said as they intruded into her
home at 2 p.m., according to Gimbo.
A local sheikh (teacher) had instructed the
assailants that people who pray in Jesus’
name should be fought and pressured until
they accept only worship of Allah, or else be
killed, she said.
“I said, ’I cannot stop praying, and more so,
Issa is my Lord and Savior, and I will
continue praying in His name,’” Gimbo told
Morning Star News. “Immediately two of the
intruders left the house, and in no time
entered the room again with sticks and
started beating me. I was hit on my face, and
blood started Ylowing down my face as I
started shouting for help.”
Neighbors arrived and rescued her, taking
her to a Budaka District hospital. She was
discharged after two days, she said.
Deborah Gimbo of Budaka town was
attacked the afternoon of Dec. 20 while
praying by herself in her home. She prays
three evenings a week in her home with two
other Christian women, and the assailants
told her they did not want them praying
loudly in Jesus’ name, Gimbo told Morning
Star News.
The intruders were identiYied as Satiya,
Ariziki, Mariam and Yahaya.
Neither Gimbo nor her husband, who was
away in Somalia on a six-month stint as part
of a U.N. peacekeeping force at the time of
the attack, are converts from Islam.

Some 25 kilometers (15 miles) away in
Kibuku District, a former Muslim fears for
his life after villagers in the Kibenga area,
Lyama parish in Kakutu Sub-County, tore
down the building of the church he leads.
Simon Mustafa Waseke had turned to Christ
in 2017 and soon found he had a
congregation to lead after many Muslims
accepted his message of repentance from sin
and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.
Kibenga is a predominantly Muslim area.
“Having many followers from those who had
left Islam, I decided to put up a church
building, and many converts from Islam
joined the church – in just a few months, the
number rose to 35 members,” Pastor Waseke
told Morning Star News. “This made the
Muslims to be against the church.”
Villagers led by an imam identiYied only as
Yuba on Oct. 10 pulled down the building of
Christian Family Church at 5:30 a.m., he said.
Neither he nor anyone from his congregation
goes near the church site, he said.
“The Muslims are now out to kill me and my
family – we are having sleepless nights,” he
told Morning Star News. “How long are we
going to hide ourselves from our enemies of
Christianity? Please pray for us.”
The attacks were the latest of many cases of
persecution of Christians in eastern Uganda
that Morning Star News has documented.
Uganda’s constitution and other laws
provide for religious freedom, including the
right to propagate one’s faith and convert
from one faith to another.
Muslims make up no more than 12 percent
of Uganda’s population.
“A gang of radical Muslims entered the
church compound,” he said, “and pulled
down the church building while shouting
‘Allah Akbar [God is Greater, a jihadist
slogan], away with this church and Pastor
Mustafa Waseke. No more prayers in this
place, or else you will all lose your lives,’ and
in no time the church was on its ground.”
A secret Christian who has contact with the
area Muslim community has informed the
pastor that the assailants are threatening to
kill him unless he leaves the area, so he does
not dare bring legal action against them.
“Even if am given police protection, I am not
sure of the security of my members of the
church, who are now very fearful,” Pastor
Waseke said. “I am at a crossroads of not
knowing what to do. My church members
are scattered like sheep without a shepherd.
Soon their faith in Christ will diminish, and
they will possibly return to Islam.”

Uzbekistan

Investigations Don’t
Stop Police Illegal
Actions
Reprinted with permission: Forum 18
In Urgench and Namangan Region, Protestant
Christians complained about police raids and
house searches without warrants, as well as
police pressure on individuals to sign
fabricated statements. "Investigations" in
both places found no police wrongdoing.
Instead, church members face possible
punitive measures.
Following two separate raids by police on
Protestant Christians to punish them for
exercising freedom of religion or belief,
church members' complaints about police
illegality have unleashed further punitive
police measures against them. Protestants in
the north-western city of Urgench [Urganch]
and in the eastern Namangan Region
complained about police raids and house
searches without warrants, as well as police
pressure on individuals to sign fabricated
statements. "Investigations" in both places
found no police wrongdoing.
Despite police bringing great pressure
against multiple people to sign false
statements against Pastor Ahmadjon
Nazarov and other Christians in Urgench,
"investigations" by the Interior Ministry and
police have found no violations by police.
The "investigations" followed complaints by
local Christians to ofYicials including the
Prime Minister about illegal police actions.
However, police pressure to sign false
statements against Pastor Nazarov
continued during the time "investigations"
were allegedly being conducted. In one of the
"investigations", Urgench Prosecutor
Davlatov took no action against blatant
illegality by police, but is instead considering
acting against those who reported police
illegality (see below).
In Namangan Region, local Christians also
complained about illegal police actions
during and after a raid including a Bible
conYiscation. The illegal actions included – as
in Urgench - police falsifying statements. An
"investigation" was alleged to have been
conducted, but yet again no steps have been
taken to punish police illegality. Instead a
case has been opened against church
member Ravshan Yunusov, whose home was
raided and who complained to ofYicials up to
the General Prosecutor's OfYice about police
illegality (see below).
"I am a Christian and I keep a Bible in my
home," Yunusov stated. "Why should
Christians be treated for this as if they are
guilty of a crime?" Local Protestants, who
wish to remain unnamed for fear of state
reprisals, told Forum 18 that they think
police are "trying to make Yunusov weary to
stop him complaining about illegal police
actions" (see below).
Urgench impunity
On 23 November 2018, 12 police ofYicers

aided a home in Urgench [Urganch] in
Uzbekistan's north-western Khorezm Region
where Sharofat Allamova and her family
were hosting several fellow-Protestants for a
meal. After searching the home without a
warrant and conYiscating a New Testament,
they questioned those present. Pastor
Ahmadjon Nazarov suffered heart pains and
had to be hospitalised after ofYicers
pressured him to sign a statement.
The following day Captain Mukhammad
Rakhimov, head of Urgench Police Struggle
with Extremism and Terrorism Department,
and other ofYicials tried to pressure one of
those present, Lolakhon Umarova, to accuse
the host and the pastor of holding
"unauthorised religious meetings". When
she refused they threatened to deprive her of
her two children and lodge a criminal case
against her. When she still refused they
summoned her mother-in-law and ordered
her to beat her daughter-in-law until she
signed a statement about what one ofYicer
called "illegal Christian Wahhabi activity".
Major Khamro Masimov, Head of Khorezm
Regional Police Struggle with Extremism and
Terrorism Department, also summoned
Umarova for questioning. The mother-in-law
then threw Umarova and her son out of the
family home.
Police also took another local resident to the
local Mahalla Committee after she visited the
pastor's Ylat, where Captain Rakhimov and
other ofYicers "mocked her, threatened her,
and made her recite Islamic prayers".
Allamova complained in writing to Prime
Minister Abdulla Aripov about the police's
unlawful actions, including the raid on her
home. But on 22 December Zakir Akhadov,
Deputy Head of the Interior Ministry's
Struggle with Extremism and Terrorism
Department, wrote back claiming that her
complaint was "thoroughly investigated by
the [Struggle with Extremism and
Terrorism] Department, and was referred to
Khorezm Regional Police for further
investigation".
Akhadov claimed that Urgench Prosecutor's
OfYice was also conducting its own
investigation. "When the investigation is
over, Khorezm Regional Police will inform
you of the results," the letter claimed.
Asked why Deputy Head Akhadov did not
properly investigate or punish the police's
illegal actions, an ofYicial who refused to give
his name at Yirst claimed to Forum 18 on 25
January 2019 that they could not answer as
Akhadov was in an "important meeting". On
a later call the ofYicial then changed their
story and claimed to Forum 18: "You need to
get permission from the Foreign Ministry to
talk to us."
Kahromon Gulomov also complained about
the police's illegal actions, this time to
Urgench City Prosecutor J. Davlatov. On 7
December Davlatov wrote back claiming:
"We have studied case materials prepared by
the police. We found from a written
complaint against Nargiza Artykova that you
have ties with an unofYicial Christian group.
We will inform you of our further actions."
Artykova is a local Christian. Prosecutor
Davlatov did not explain why he was taking
no action against illegality by police ofYicers,
but was instead, based on an unknown
complaint made on unknown grounds,
considering acting against those who
reported police illegality.
Police routinely break the law, and unfair
trials are also common.
Pastor Nazarov commented to Forum 18 that
the authorities may have pressured someone
to write a complaint against Artykova.

"Investigations" don't stop police
illegality
The "investigations" the authorities claimed
to be carrying out did not stop police
illegality.
On 24 December – Christmas Eve - Major
Masimov put pressure on Umarova to write a
statement complaining about Pastor Nazarov
and his exercise of freedom of religion and
belief. Masimov wanted to dictate the
"statement" word for word, but Umarova
refused, local Protestants who wished to
remain unnamed for fear of state reprisals
told Forum 18.
However, Major Masimov managed over the
next week to assemble 12 "statements"
complaining about Pastor Nazarov. When
Forum 18 asked the Major why he
questioned 12 people over the Christmas
period and forced them to write statements
against Pastor Nazarov, Major Masimov
claimed to Forum 18 on 24 January 2019:
"We were only investigating complaints by
citizens against Nazarov." Masimov also
claimed that "people complain that he
invites others to his home where they
organise unregistered religious meetings".
Against Uzbekistan's legally binding
obligations under international human
rights law, the regime bans the exercise of
freedom of religion and belief without state
permission.
Major Masimov could not explain to Forum
18 why Pastor Nazarov and others cannot
meet privately at home to pray and read the
Bible together without state permission.
When asked, Masimov paused and then said
"it is better to do this in an ofYicial church".
He claimed that "we will soon open several
churches in our region". When Forum 18
again asked Masimov why people cannot
meet for worship in their homes, he could
not answer.
In May 2018 Uzbekistan added new
obstacles to the already difYicult procedure
for a belief community to apply for state
permission to exist.
Major Masimov then claimed to Forum 18
that "we will not bother them [Pastor
Nazarov and others] again".
Major Masimov also on 24 December 2018
summoned Pastor Nazarov to his Police
Station, he told Forum 18. "He demanded
that I visit the Police Station to talk about my
complaints to the authorities about police
actions. But I refused to go after consulting
with a lawyer," Nazarov said.
On 16 January 2019 Urgench police chief
Ilkham Tajimuratov wrote to Pastor Nazarov,
Allamova and Rano Abdullayeva claiming:
"We made an internal investigation into your
complaints and found that the concerned
police ofYicers committed no violations in
their actions."
Police Chief Tajimuratov also claimed to
Forum 18 on 25 January that "we found no
violations". When Forum 18 asked why his
own police force repeatedly raided people
who read their own Bibles in their own
homes and punish local Christians,
Tajimuratov calmly replied "just write a
complaint to us and we will investigate".
Namangan Region: "Investigations" don't
stop police illegality
On 19 November 2018, police in Pap in
Uzbekistan's eastern Namangan Region
raided the home of Ravshan Yunusov. He and
seven other Protestants were having a meal
together and reading the Bible when ofYicers
arrived. Police searched the Ylat illegally
without a search warrant and conYiscated
legally-bought literature, including Bibles.

OfYicers arrested all eight Protestants and
took them to Pap Police Station, where they
questioned them until 3 am the next
morning. Police forced most of the
Protestants to sign statements written –
illegally - by police, and said that they might
be prosecuted for possession of the religious
literature they legally bought.
Yunusov wrote to the police complaining
about their illegal actions. Sanjar Jabbarov,
Head of the Namangan Regional Police
Struggle with Extremism and Terrorism
Department, wrote back on 24 December,
claiming that "after your complaint [police]
conducted an internal investigation into
unlawful actions of Pap District Police Major
Muhiddin Suvonov, Senior Lieutenant
Sherzod Nabiyev and Lieutenant Anvar
Akbarov. The investigation results were
referred to Namangan Police Disciplinary
Board for further action."
However, after talking to the Personnel
Section, Pap Police Captain Abdurashid
Yuldashev claimed to Forum 18 on 25
January 2019 that the "investigation is still
going on". Asked when it is going to be
completed and whether the ofYicers will be
punished, Yuldashev responded: "We do not
have answers to those questions yet."
Namangan Regional Police wrote a similar
letter to Otabek Nuraliyev on 27 December.
He later found that when he was asked by
Lieutenant Colonel Sh. Ergashev of
Namangan Police Struggle with Extremism
and Terrorism Department to sign a blank
paper, this was not to prepare charges
against the ofYicers who acted illegally.
Instead, police typed a statement falsely
claiming that Nuraliyev was not complaining
about the illegal actions of Major Suvonov
and other police ofYicers.
Forum 18 asked police chief Jabbarov on 25
January why Yunusov's home was raided,
and what measures were or will be taken
against the police who acted illegally.
However, Jabbarov refused to answer. "I
cannot talk to you. Send your questions in
writing," he insisted. He then put the phone
down.
Yunusov and Nuraliyev also complained to
the District and Prosecutor General's OfYices.
"You sent both my complaints to Namangan
Police for whom the Pap District police
ofYicers work," Yunisov wrote. "Please
independently investigate the case.”
"Psychological pressure on the
youngsters"
Yunusov complained that despite being a
state-certiYied professional arm-wrestling
coach who has trained athletes who have
represented the country internationally, the
authorities "treat me as an extremist and
criminal". He points out that Major Suvonov
and other ofYicers pressured some of his
trainees into signing false statements against
him. "Police ofYicers put so much
psychological pressure on the youngsters
that they signed the fabricated statements."
Major Suvonov was "not satisYied with this
and visiting their homes pressured fathers of
two of my trainees to write statements
against me", Yunusov added
"I am a Christian and I keep a Bible in my
home," Yunusov states. "Why should
Christians be treated for this as if they are
guilty of a crime?"
Uzbekistan imposes total censorship of all
printed and electronic religious literature,
and police often conYiscate books which have
passed the state's compulsory censorship.
The regime has repeatedly tried to stop
followers of religious beliefs, including
Christians, from reading their own sacred
texts in their own homes.

Samir Rakhmanov of the General
Prosecutor's OfYice repeatedly refused to
answer Forum 18's questions or put Forum
18 through to an ofYicial who would answer
them. He then put the phone down. Calls to
other General Prosecutor's OfYice telephones
went unanswered on 25 January.
"Trying to make Yunusov stop complaining
about illegal police actions"
The regime's alleged "investigations" have
also not stopped the Namangan Region
human rights violations.
On 19 January Inspector Gayrat Khakimov of
Pap Police visited Yunusov in his workplace
to tell him that he is being prosecuted in
connection with the raid and conYiscation of
a Bible from him. Inspector Khakimov asked
Yunusov to sign a document stating that he
had seen case materials and that a court
hearing would take place. Yunusov refused
to do this as he has not seen the case
materials.
materials and so are denying him the chance
to prepare his legal defence.
Local Protestants, who wish to remain
unnamed for fear of state reprisals, told
Forum 18 on 25 January that they think the
police are "trying to make Yunusov weary to
stop him complaining about illegal police
actions".
Pap Police Captain Yuldashev would not
explain to Forum 18 on 28 January why the
police are behaving like this. "I don't know",
he claimed. He claimed that to get the case
materials Yunusov needs to ask Inspector
Khakimov, but would not explain why
Khakimov has not provided materials
despite Yunusov's repeated requests.
Inspector Khakimov promised Yunusov that
he would give him copies of the case Yiles,
but has not done so. It is illegal for police not
to show those charged with offences the case
Yiles.
Yunusov complained to Pap Police chief
Sanjar Abdullayev on 21 January about this,
asking "why police have not provided him
with case materials, why police who raided
his home illegally were not punished, and
why the police are trying to cover up the
unlawful actions of their ofYicers".
On 23 January Inspector Khakimov called
Yunusov twice. In the Yirst call he told
Yunusov that a court hearing will take place
on 24 January. Fifteen minutes later
Khakimov called again to say that the
hearing was postponed to an unknown date.
At no point did the Inspector tell Yunusov
why the police have not provided case

Fined For Giving
Away New
Testament
Reprinted with permission: Forum 18
Police searched a woman's Ilat in Bukhara to
seize a New Testament Shukhrat Safarov had
given her. A court Iined Safarov and ordered
the book destroyed. The government's
Religious Affairs Committee claimed that
using the New Testament for "missionary
purposes" is illegal.
In the southern city of Bukhara, a court Yined
a Christian, Shukhrat Safarov, about two
weeks' average wages for giving an Uzbeklanguage
New Testament away as a present.
The judge ordered that the New Testament
be destroyed. Police had found the New
Testament during a search of the recipient's
home. The authorities committed multiple
illegalities throughout the case.
After a late September 2018 police raid on a
group of 40 Protestants meeting in Tashkent
Region, where police "psychological
pressure" resulted in a woman and a 5-yearold
girl being hospitalised, a court has
upheld the Yines on 27 local Christians and
deportations of four South Korean
Protestants (see below).
No prosecutions appear to have been
brought against the police who carried out
torture, despite Uzbekistan's legally-binding
obligations under the United Nations
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (see below).
And after a large November 2018 raid
involving the National Guard and other
agencies on Baptists meeting for Sunday
morning worship in Yashnobod District in
the capital Tashkent, police returned some of
the Christian literature they conYiscated.
However, they have not returned children's
literature, song books, and music notes. The
authorities do not appear to have brought
any prosecutions or other actions against the
ofYicials who acted illegally (see below).
Bukhara: Fined for New Testament gift
In December 2018 Shukhrat Safarov, a
Protestant in the southern city of Bukhara
[Bukhoro], gave a local woman an Uzbeklanguage
New Testament. Police
subsequently searched her Ylat in Karakul
District and found the New Testament, local
Protestants who wish to remain unnamed
for fear of state reprisals told Forum 18 on
27 January 2019.
Police ofYicer Begzod, who refused to give his
last name, told Safarov on 5 January that the
search allegedly happened because of
"because of complaints against her from
residents of her mahalla [residential area]".
Police conYiscated the New Testament, even
though she told ofYicers it was a gift.

Police often search homes for religious
literature of all kinds, and mahalla
committees are a key part of the regime's
attempts to control all of society.
On 27 December 2018 a police ofYicer
illegally forced his way into Safarov's Ylat
without being invited, without a search
warrant, and refusing to show any
identiYication. The unidentiYied ofYicer then
demanded that Safarov accompany him to
Bukhara Police Station. Safarov refused to do
so without the legally required ofYicials
summons.
Police routinely break the law, and unfair
trials are also common.
When Safarov received an ofYicial summons
he came to the Police Station on 5 January.
There, a police ofYicer who claimed his name
was Begzod – illegally without giving his last
name, or showing his identiYication – told
Safarov he was being charged with breaking
Administrative Code Article 184-2 ("Illegal
production, storage, or import into
Uzbekistan, with the intent to distribute or
actual distribution, of religious materials by
physical persons"), and Article 240, Part 2
("Attracting believers of one confession to
another (proselytism) and other missionary
activity"). OfYicer Begzod also broke the law
by not showing Safarov the police case Yiles.
Against international human rights
standards, the regime has made it illegal for
anyone to share any beliefs with anyone else.
OfYicer Begzod did show Safarov an "expert
analysis" of the New Testament by Begzod
Kadyrov, Chief Specialist of the government's
Religious Affairs Committee in Tashkent.
Kadyrov stated that the New Testament was
legally imported, but its use for missionary
purposes is illegal. Local Protestants pointed
out that this violates the legally-binding
international human rights standards that
the regime has signed.
Kadyrov refused to answer Forum 18's
questions on 28 January. "I have no time to
listen to your fables," he claimed, before
putting the phone down.
Uzbekistan imposes total censorship of all
printed and electronic religious literature,
and police often conYiscate books which have
passed the state's compulsory censorship.
The regime has repeatedly tried to stop
followers of religious beliefs, including
Christians, from reading their own sacred
texts in their own homes.
Bukhara Police told Forum 18 on 29 January
that Safarov's case is being dealt with by
Begzod Toshpulatov of Bukhara Police
Struggle with Extremism and Terrorism
Department.
Toshpulatov refused to explain why he broke
the law during his questioning of Safarov, or
why any action is being taken against
Safarov. "I do not know you, and I cannot
discuss this with you over the phone," he
claimed on 29 January. "You need to come to
our Police Station so we can talk." When
Forum 18 asked why people are punished
for owning Bibles or New Testaments or
giving them to others, Toshpulatov repeated
his previous claim and refused to talk more.
On 15 January, Judge Ruslan Zairov of
Bukhara Administrative Court Yined Safarov
three times the minimum monthly wage or
552,900 Soms. This is equivalent to about
two weeks' average wages for those in
formal work. The Judge also ordered the
destruction of the conYiscated Uzbeklanguage
New Testament.
Courts often order the destruction of
conYiscated religious literature, and the
regime is particularly hostile to non-Muslim
religious believers using Uzbek (the state's
ofYicial language) in religious texts. The use
of Uzbek by non-Muslims as the main

language of public worship is banned, even
though the ban has no legal basis.
A Bukhara Court Chancellery ofYicial, who
refused to give her name, refused to tell
Forum 18 on 28 January why Safarov was
Yined. Judge Zairov "is busy and cannot come
to the phone", she claimed.
Tashkent Region: Impunity for torture
continues
After a late September 2018 police raid on a
group of 40 Protestants meeting in Tashkent
Region, where police "psychological
pressure" resulted in a woman and a 5-yearold
girl being hospitalised, a court imposed
large Yines on many of the participants. The
prosecution used four women who
accompanied police on the raid as witnesses
in the case, despite being accused by
Protestants of stealing property from some
of the Protestants. Neither the thieves nor
the ofYicials suspected of torture were
prosecuted.
On 19 December, Judge Uchkun Tursunov of
Tashkent Region's Administrative Court
upheld the Yines on 27 local Christians and
deportations of four South Korean
Protestants. No prosecutions appear to have
been brought against the police who carried
out torture, despite Uzbekistan's legallybinding
obligations under the United
Nations Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment.
Court ofYicials have repeatedly refused up to
25 January 2019 to answer Forum 18's
questions as to why there was no
investigation of the police's illegal actions,
including torture.
Tashkent: Some conZiscated literature
returned, no prosecutions
On 25 November 2018, 20 plain clothes
ofYicials rising later to 40 ofYicials raided
Baptists meeting for Sunday morning
worship in Yashnobod District in the capital
Tashkent. For the Yirst known time in such
raids, members of the military – the National
Guard – took part in the raid. Other agencies
participating in the raid included the State
Security Service (SSS) secret police, the
Justice Ministry, and Yashnobod District
Police. When Baptists asked why the SSS
secret police and the National Guard were on
the raid, the raiders responded: "It is a
special operation".
OfYicials searched every part of the building,
which was "ransacked", Baptists complained.
OfYicials conYiscated about 7,800 items of
literature and DVDs, including all books and
songbooks the Church uses for its meetings
for worship. When one woman tried to
conceal some songbooks used for worship,
an ofYicial "screamed at her that you are
liars, Christians must not hide anything".
Police threatened Baptists they "will come
every Sunday and disrupt the Church service
every time until we give up and stop our
activity".
However, the authorities have not yet carried
out those threats. On 27 December police
returned some of the Christian literature
they had conYiscated during the raid.
However, Andrei Serin of the Church told
Forum 18 on 22 January that the "we still
need the children's literature, song books,
and music notes to be returned as we
need them for conducting worship".
The authorities do not appear to have
brought any prosecutions or other
actions against the ofYicials who acted
illegally.

Other
Countries

CAMEROON
Boko Haram Attacks
Two villages were attacked 4 times in a two
week period in Cameroon. At least 3 were
killed, churches and houses destroyed, and
quite a bit looted.
EGYPT
Two churches were mobbed and then closed
when Islamists staged demonstrations. The
extremists were against the churches being
ofYicially recognized. They shouted
inYlammatory statements and made threats.
These churches were in addition to the 3
closed down in the Minya Governorate.
Despite the law saying there is freedom of
religion, local authorities seem to bow to the
wishes of extremists.
CUBA
Government and Drones
Voice of the Martyrs reported through its
prayer network that the Christians in Cuba are
asking for prayer. They believe the
government is using drones to monitor their
meetings.
Because of the proposed revision to legalize
gay marriage, the Christian community and
the Communist government have had
increasing tension. There were tensions
beforehand between the two as the
communist government does not approve of
the growth of the church. With growing
arrests and threats, the possible monitoring
through drones is bringing much anxiety to
the Christian community in Cuba.
Appeals court upheld a 3-year prison
sentence for Abd Adel Bebawy. He was
arrested in 2018 and charged with
blasphemy for a Facebook post that
allegedly insulted Islam.
A police ofYicer was killed, and two injured,
while defusing a bomb outside of a Coptic
church. The church, and its congregants
were saved from the bomb blast when an
Imam and two of his students shouted
warnings to the Christians outside the
church.
An Egyptian man was kidnapped by an ISISafYiliate
after the saw on his ID card that he
was a Christian.

IRAQ
Churches Being Sold Illegally
Churches in Iraq are being sold off, despite
the law dictating that no church properties
are to be sold. Christian members in
Parliament are sounding the alarm.
Read more here.
MALAYSIA
Raymond Koh Still Missing
It’s been two years since Pastor Koh was
abducted, yet there is silence. Justice is
moving very slowly.
Read more here.
Intimidation at Church
Christians are being intimidated in their
own places of worship as incidents of
repeated gunYire are increasing. The group
responsible is an Iranian group. With no
help from the police, Christians are getting
worried.
Read more here.
Christians Losing Land
Caught between the Shia and the Kurds,
Christians are in a precarious position. They
are also the target of land grabs.
Those that aren’t facing these problems are
leaving their land due to lack of necessities
and military occupation.
NIGERIA
STATS ARE STILL OUT
All the data is not yet in for Nigeria. If you
have followed my writing on this country,
you know how difYicult it is to decipher the
news coming out of the country. There are
many actors, much violence, and what is
ethnic, political, or religious is hard to Yigure
out.
Stay tuned for next month’s issue and
Nigeria’s information will be included!

PHILIPPINES
Church Bombing
On January 27th, Islamic State bombed a
cathedral, injuring 100 and killing 20.
Although there had been a referendum
pending, it is not believed that politics was
the motive. Most believe the attack to be
religiously motivated, not political.
SYRIA
Hungary to Help
Hungary, a country with a history of aiding
Christian refugees, is sending $1.7 million
to Syria to fund hospitals. The staff will be
mostly Christian, providing jobs as well as
healthcare.
SOMALIA
Christians Worship in Fear
Christians in Somalia worship in hiding as
they fear terror group Al Shabaab. In a
country that is 99.8% Muslim, Christians have
no protection.
Read more here.
TURKEY
Middle East Concern
The 16th Criminal Chamber of the Court of
Cassation today upheld the verdict issued
against the Yive perpetrators in the Malatya
Zirve murder trial relating to the 2007
murder of three Christians. A demand from
the Association of Protestant Churches in
Turkey to uncover the wider network of
organisers behind the criminal act was
effectively rejected.
Although Christians are glad the
perpetrators are being held to account, they
are frustrated that others implicit in the
crime are not being held to account.

This section has been created to update you on Christian refugee issues. Due to the
extreme increase in persecution worldwide, the amount of refugees is growing. Many of us
have seen the migrant boats and the floods of people after ISIS (ISIL, Daesh, Islamic State).
This type of activity is still going on.
However, for Christians, leaving their country doesn’t fix the problem. Relatives try to find
them and enact Sharia law. Other times, countries discriminate against Christians.
Sometimes, countries help in overwhelming ways. All those stories and more will be
documented in this section each month.
New Zealand Failing to Give Sanctuary to Christian Refugees
Barnabas Aid reports that New Zealand is refusing to offer sanctuary to Christian refugees from Syria,
Afghanistan, and Iraq. In a 12 month period, out of all the refugees from these countries (a total of 399),
exactly zero of them were Christians. Every refugee from these three nations was Muslim. A
spokeswoman said that religion did not play an issue.
Looming Deportation to Eritrea
Zebib Mengustu has been arrested in Canada because she refused to sign a deportation order. Her sister,
Tiebe, is worried about her safety in the prison. She is also worried about the deportation, as Protestants
face religious persecution and she feels her sister would face it if she returned.
UK Policies “Disproportionately Advantage” Muslims
Barnabas Aid obtained information showing the the UK discriminated in favor of Muslims when accepting
refugees for resettlement. Out of 4,850 Syrian refugees, only 11 were Christian.

R e s o u r c e s
International Christian Response - February Prayer Calendar
ICR’s February prayer calendar is out. Download it here to pray daily for the persecuted church.
OpenDoors World Watch List
OpenDoors released its annual World Watch List. This report lists the top 50 countries where it is most
dangerous to live as a follower of Jesus. Download it here.
OpenDoors Prayer Force - February
Check out how you can pray daily for the persecuted church. OpenDoors February prayer guide is
here.
Persecution Relief - 2018 Report
This organization reports on Christian persecution in India. They have released their 2018 report
here.
Persecution Relief - February Calendar
This organization reports on Christian persecution in India. They have released their February prayer
calendar. You can access it here.
Voice of the Martyrs - Free Book
VOM is giving away the 50th anniversary edition of Tortured for Christ for free to USA residents. To get
your free book, go here.

Picture Credits
Uzbekistan. Anders J. Moen
Afghanistan
Algeria. Anders J. Moen
Burma/Myanmar. Nicolas Raymond
Cameroon. Anders J. Moen
China. Nicolas Raymond
Cuba. Nicolas Raymond
DRC. Nicolas Raymond
DRC Map
Egypt. Nicolas Raymond
Hands in Chains by George Hodan
India
Indonesia. Seika
Iran. Nicolas Raymond
Iraq
Kenya
Malaysia. Nicolas Raymond
Nigeria. Global Panorama
Pakistan. Nicolas Raymond
Philippines. Nicolas Raymond
Refugee
Somalia. Anders J. Moen
Sudan. Nicolas Raymond
Syria. Steve Conover
Turkey. Michal
Uganda. Steve Conover

© LAURA MURRAY. 2019