Egyptian Security Arrests Christian for Praying At Home

ASSIST News Service reports that Egyptian State Security recently arrested a Coptic Christian for praying "without a license." On Oct. 24, Maurice Salama Sharkawy, 37, had invited Pastor Elia Shafik to conduct the sacrament of the "Anointing of the Sick" for his sick father, who had suffered a stroke. State Security broke into his house while the prayers were said, handcuffed Sharkawy and took him to a police station for interrogation. He was held for two days before being released on "compassionate grounds." Mohammed Khalaf Allah, mayor of Deir Samalout village where Sharkawy lives, told news sources that Sharkawy "refuses" to go to the church in the next town over and insists on "pray[ing] in his own home."

Update: Arrest made in attack on Christian family in the West Bank

Yaakov "Jack" Teitel Photo from Shin Bet

A suspect has finally been arrested for the March 2008 bomb attack in the Jewish settlement town of Ariel that severely injured Ami Ortiz, the teenage son of a Messianic pastor (read the story). Yaakov "Jack" Teitel (37), an American-born man reportedly behind a number of other deadly terror attacks over the past decade, was arrested on October 7. Leah Ortiz, Ami's mother, told the Jerusalem Post, "We are relieved that a suspect has been arrested for the attempted murder which took place in our home a year and a half ago. As a family the past year and a half has been a struggle in every way."

Please pray for Ami as he continues to heal from the brutal bomb attack. To watch a video interview with Ami and his family, click here.

Pakistan Police Torture Christians Arrested in Islamic Attack

Brian Sharma

October 27, 2009

LAHORE, Pakistan (CDN) -- Two Christians in Gojra, Pakistan who allegedly fired warning shots as an Islamist mob approached that burned seven Christians to death on Aug. 1 told Compass they were tortured after police arrested them.

Only one of hundreds of Muslim assailants in the fire assault on Gojra's Christian Town is in jail, but sources said Islamists have provided police a pretense for arresting the two Christian brothers who gave shelter to 300 people. Naveed Masih, 32, alias Fauji ("the Soldier") and his 25-year-old brother Nauman Masih were arrested on Sept. 2 and Sept. 7 respectively for "rioting with deadly weapons and spreading terror with firing."

Naveed Masih is said to have fired warning shots from a rooftop into the air and at the feet of the mob of approaching Muslim assailants to try to disperse them, but both brothers deny using any weapons.

From his jail cell, Naveed Masih told Compass that he and his brother were taken to the Police Training Centre in Choong, where they were kept in illegal detention for 18 days and were tortured "in so many ways ruthlessly and in inhumane ways."

"Sometimes we were not given anything to eat or drink except one time, and sometimes we were hung in a dark well while our faces were covered with a cloth," Naveed Masih said. "They beat me with cane sticks on the back of my hands and sometimes hung me upside down and then brutally beat me."

Police kept them hungry for days, he said; when they asked for food, officers told them to confess that they had fired, he added. Naveed Masih said police tortured them to try to force them to say they had links with terrorist organizations that provided arms and ammunition to them.

Naveed Maish said they were forbidden to sleep; they were awoken whenever they dozed off. Throughout the 18 days of torture, he said, the two brothers were kept separate but saw each other when they were taken to court.

"We hugged each other and wept, seeing each other's wounds," he said.

Naveed Masih said police tortured them because they had given shelter to more than 300 women, children and elderly people on the day of attack, in which the assailants - acting on an unsubstantiated rumor of "blasphemy" of the Quran and whipped into a frenzy by local imams and banned terrorist groups - also looted more than 100 houses and set fire to 50 of them. At least 19 people were injured in the melee.

In spite of the targeting of the Christian area in Gojra by hundreds of Islamic extremists, police have registered complaints filed by the Muslim assailants against 129 Christians; sources said these various charges were filed only to pressure the Christian community. Thus far police have arrested only Naveed Masih and Nauman Masih - whose cases were submitted in an Anti-Terrorism Court to make it difficult for them to obtain bail, according to their lawyer - but the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement was able to obtain release on bail for Nauman Masih.

Nauman Masih told Compass that of the 17 Muslims named in the First Information Report on the Aug. 1 attack, only one, Abdul Khalid Kashmiri, was in jail. Kashmiri has offered 1 million rupees (US$12,500) if the Christian complainants would withdraw the case, Nauman Masih added.

The rest of the Muslim assailants are still at large, and sources said police have no intention of arresting them. In addition, three checks of 100,000 rupees (US$1,200) each issued by Punjab Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah for compensation to victims have been cancelled, Nauman Masih said, probably because the recipients are among the 129 Christians implicated in the false charges.

Nauman Masih said that when his mother arrived at the Christian Town Police Station the night his brother was arrested, officials told her that she could see him the next morning. But when she and other women arrived the next morning, he said, police told them that they had not arrested him.

The Community Development Initiative (CDI), anadvocacy group working with the help of American Center for Law and Justice, has taken up the case of both brothers. CDI lawyer Haroon Suleman Khokhar said that they have been falsely implicated in a serious crime for protecting themselves and many other innocent Christians.

He said that police had no justification for submitting the cases of the two brothers in the Anti-Terrorism Court ofFaisalabad. Khokhar said Naveed Masih was a key eyewitness in the report filed with police on the Aug. 1 attack, and that the two brothers were implicated in the cases only to try coercing Naveed Masih to withdraw from testifying against the Muslim attackers.

To protest police registration of the complaints against the 129 Christians, which include Bishop of Gojra John Samuel, Naveed Masih and Nauman Masih, on Oct. 5 the Christians of Gojra rejected goods sent by the U.S. Embassy to Pakistan in Islamabad. Demanding justice rather than aid, the Christians threw away the boxes of aid

Eritrean church leader's home raided, ten arrested

Worship at the Full Gospel Church in Asmara Image of video from Gospel Light Eritrean Baptist Church

According to Open Doors Switzerland, ten more Christians were arrested last week after Eritrean security forces raided the home of Pastor Tewelde Hailom, the founding elder of the Full Gospel Church in Asmara. According to the report, three people were arrested on October 14. Seven others were taken into custody two days later. Pastor Hailom, who is suffering from an ulcer, was taken to prison, but remains under house arrest. It is unknown at this time where the ten believers, including two women, are being detained.

Please pray for their release. Pray that they will have courage in the face of the hardship that they will be facing. Pray for their families during this time of uncertainty over the fate of their loved ones.

For more information on the severe persecution facing Christians in Eritrea, go to the Eritrea Country Report.

Update: Ten more Christians from China's Fushan Church arrested

Arrested believers Yang Xuan and wife, Yang Caizhen, Photos from ChinaAid

Church members of the Fushan Church in Linfen City, China continue to face detention and intimidation from Public Security Bureau officials, according to an October 18 report from ChinaAid. On October 10, officials offered to release ten church leaders who were arrested in late September following an attack on their church site (click here for more information), on the condition that one of the female leaders be held until further notice. The leaders refused to leave behind Pastor Yang Rongli, stating, "We are one team in the one body of Christ! We won't leave her behind alone. We will not leave prison without her." The officials then arrested Pastor Yang's youngest sister, Yang Linli, and ransacked another pastor's home. On October 11, ten more church members were arrested. Officials blamed Pastor Yang for the raids and arrests, and threatened the leaders with further violence if they did not comply with their orders.

Yang Linli was finally released on October 16 and ordered to not petition on behalf of her sister or the other detained Christians and cease further "illegal activities." Pastor Yang and another church leader, Hua Mei, were then formally accused of "illegal building and disturbing the social order by organizing masses." The next day, five other church leaders were sentenced to criminal detention. Three have since been released on parole. At last report, nine Christians remain in detention and the whereabouts of the ten Christians detained on October 11 remain unknown.

Update: Chinese pastor released

Pastor Hua Huiqi, who was arrested by officials on September 17 (read the story), was released on October 10, according to an October 12 report from ChinaAid. He was not physically mistreated during his detention in a secret location. Upon his release, however, officials reportedly threatened to harm his 13-year-old daughter if he "caused any trouble." Pastor Hua, who is recovering at home, has urged the international community to continue praying for his ailing Christian mother, Shuang Shuying, who has also faced imprisonment. He has also requested prayer for his dying brother, Hua Huilin.

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Pakistani Christian Arrested for Gojra Violence Gets Bail

ASSIST News Service reports that one of the two Christian men arrested for "perpetrating violence" in Gojra has been granted bail by an anti-terrorist court in Faisalabad. Nouman Shahu was released on Tuesday (Oct. 20). Gojra is a small town in Pakistani province ofPunjab, which saw the torching of Christians' houses and the deaths of seven Christians after rumors spread that Christians had committed blasphemy. Some 64 Christian families in Gojra were rendered homeless as a result of the August violence. Joseph Francis, National Director of the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), said the group had submitted surety bonds worth 50,000 Pakistani rupees (601.355 USD) Shahu's release. Shahu's brother, Naveed, remains in prison. CLAAS hope to petition for his release on bail in about a week.

Pastor attacked and arrested in Karnataka, India

Pastor Singaram Prakash Photo from GCIC

At approximately 7:00 p.m. on October 4, Hindu militants attacked Pastor Singaram Prakash (60) after he attended a prayer meeting in Kaiwara village, Karnataka. The militants beat the pastor and accused him of "cheating" people. Police detained the pastor and questioned him for hours about his Christian activities. Twenty-five local people have reportedly presented evidence in support of Pastor Prakash, emphasizing that he had not conducted illegal activities and had only entered people's houses for prayer at their request. At last report, he was still in custody. Pastor Prakash has been leading a church in the nearby village of Tharabanhalli for 10 years.

Pray for Pastor Prakash's release. Pray for safety for his wife and two daughters, who are also involved in ministry in the area.

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Muslims Demand Arrest of Christians for 'Provoking' Gojra Violence

ASSIST News Service reports that Muslim residents of Gojra have demanded that Christians who have been accused of provoking violence be arrested by today. The violence ended in seven Christian being burnt alive by a Muslim mob on Aug. 1. The calls for Christian men's arrests became strident on Tuesday after a Muslim man who had allegedly opened fire on Christian residents on Aug. 1 died in Allied Hospital, Sargodha. The man, Amjad, had suffered injuries during the Gojra violence. The Muslims gave police a 48 hour ultimatum, warning that the onus of consequences will be on the administration if the Christian accused of provoking violence were not arrested. So far, heavy contingents of police have been deployed around the local Christian colony, apparently to prevent further violence. Police also stood outside the Bishop House and the Catholic Church.

Christians Arrested for Operating Boys' Hostel in India

Compass Direct News reports that Karnataka police accompanied by 10 Hindu extremists on Friday (Aug. 28) arrested a Christian operator of a boys' hostel. They accused the owner and another Christian of offering food, shelter, education and future job prospects to the children as an "allurement" to convert to Christianity. After Hanuma Naik's release on bail the next day, he dismissed the allegations as fabricated, saying that parents of the 42 students voluntarily sent their children, ages 6 to 19, to the hostel. The parents also had prior knowledge that Christian teachings are part of the program at the church-run hostel. The two Christians had promised the boys' parents that they would take care of all the children's needs for food, clothing and education - a potentially criminal activity under "anti-conversion" laws in force in some states, but not in Karnataka.