According to the Barnabus Fund, a Muslim Police Constable Murders Christian in Hospital Accused of Blasphemy:
A young Christian man died from severe head trauma after three days in a coma following an attack by a Muslim police constable who struck him with a hammer while he lay defenceless in hospital.
Samuel Masih was hospitalised on 22 May having contracted tuberculosis in prison. Samuel had been detained since August 2003 under Pakistan’s controversial “blasphemy law” for allegedly defiling a mosque. In the early hours of 24 May police constable Faryad Ali entered Samuel’s hospital room and despite the presence of a police guard assaulted Samuel with a brick-cutter’s hammer. Faryad Ali sought to kill Samuel because of the accusation of blasphemy. Samuel went into a coma from which he never recovered. He died on 28 May.
Faryad Ali said that he felt it was his duty as a Muslim to kill Samuel. He told police, “I wanted to earn a place in heaven.” He had previously expressed hatred for Samuel to his colleagues. He was arrested for attempted murder, which was changed to formal murder charges after Samuel died.
From the same website, comes this report of a Christian Woman Subjected to Whipping Under Islamic Law:
In Khartoum, Sudan, a young Christian woman was fined and whipped for not wearing the hijab (headscarf) in public after a group of public-order policemen arrested her when she travelled home from work on 13 April.
Cecilia John Holland, 27, boarded a minibus at Badr Gardens to travel to her home in the suburb of Haj Yousif on the evening on 13 April when she was arrested for not wearing the hijab. About 10 police forced the bus to stop and dragged her from it. She was modestly dressed in long sleeves and an ankle-length skirt, but her hair was uncovered in Khartoum temperatures of 100-105 degrees F (37-41ºC).
The group of policemen forced her into their vehicle, striking her in the process. Four other women were already inside. When seven more had been arrested they were taken to a police station and held overnight. The next morning, 14 April, Cecilia was taken to Sizana Islamic Court where the Muslim policemen testified against her. She was not allowed to make any kind of statement or speak in her own defence. . . .
The Islamic court declared Cecilia guilty and sentenced her to 40 lashes on the back and fined her 10,000 dinars (about £28), equivalent to one third of her monthly salary. She was released that afternoon after being whipped and paying the fine. Earlier in April, the government had renewed its insistence that all Sudanese citizens residing in Khartoum would be under shari’a (Islamic law). Cecilia has a European grandparent and therefore has paler skin and longer hair than most southern Sudanese. While the police may have initially mistaken her for an Arab Muslim, her name and accent should have proved her Christian and southern Sudanese identity to them. However, the police told her that no-one, “not even a non-Muslim” was exempt from the Islamic dress code.
And from the Center for Religious Freedom comes this report:
Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom hails the release by Chinese authorities of two Catholic priests and a Protestant pastor, Zhao Wenquan. However, well-known Christian evangelical leader Xu Shuangfu, founder of the independent Three Class Servants church, detained on April 26, remains in custody. In press releases last month, the Center urged the U.S. government to press Beijing for their freedom.
According to China Aid, a Pennsylvania-based rights group, Zhao's family and church members credit international pressure for his recent release and report that he was only "lightly beaten" while in jail. Zhao had been arrested in Anhui province in east-central China on May 9 during a large outdoor harvest celebration.
AsiaNews, a Catholic publication, reported that also released were two underground Catholic priests, Father Lu Genjun, age 42, and Father Cheng Xiaoli, age 40. The two were detained on May 14 in An Guo in northern China and freed following a huge media backlash surrounding their detention. They had been charged with "disturbing public order" as they prepared to give classes in natural family planning and Catholic morality. The classes had not been approved in advance by the Bureau of Religious Affairs.
Father Cheng is from An Guo itself, a parish that has been without a bishop since underground bishop Liu Difeng died in prison. Father Lui had come to An Guo from his home parish in Hebei, where over one million Catholics reside. Lui has been arrested several times and was just released a few months ago after three years in a forced labor camp.
Still jailed is Pastor Xu Shuangfu, age 59, kidnapped at gunpoint while visiting church members in Heilongjian province. Xu, who has spent more than 20 years in prison, is thought to be the spiritual leader of some hundreds of thousands Christians. His goddaughter reported that police had asked for payment of a ransom equivalent to $28,000 and threatened that otherwise "the old man" could lose one of his fingers or even his life.
Voice of the Martyrs has more details:
Chinese house church leader Xu Shuangfu's whereabouts and condition are unknown, and Chinese Christians fear for his life. Xu was the leader of a controversial house church group known as "Three Grades Servants" in Henan Province, northeast China.
Xu was arrested April 26th, and since then family members have been prevented from seeing him. VOM sources report that the case against Xu has been handled as a national security case, rather than as a religious-affairs case. Local Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) officials have been excluded from the case, which is being handled by the Department of National Security with orders apparently coming from the highest levels of the Chinese government in Beijing. Authorities have even questioned villagers in Xu's hometown in Henan Province in their search for evidence against him.
Xu Shuangfu (also known as Xu Shengguang, which means "holy light") has been a well-known house church leader since the 1980s. He has been arrested more than 20 times, and spent more than 20 years in prison. His group is known for the secrecy of its work, but is believed to have more than 500,000 members.
In April the Public Security Bureau (PSB) in Harbin City, Heilongjiang province, conducted major raids on Three Grades Servants meetings. Xu Shuangfu was taken into custody, as was Gu Xianggao, a teacher in the group. Gu was beaten to death the next day while in the custody of PSB officers. He was 28 years old.
Xu was thought to be held at Harbin City's Number One Detention Center, but a prison director has denied by phone that anyone by that name is currently incarcerated there. Chinese Christians fear that Xu has been secretly transferred to another facility, and may even have been executed already.
"This case is being handled as if Pastor Xu was leading some kind of insurrection," said Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for The Voice of the Martyrs. "The fact is that his group simply wants freedom to worship God as they see fit."
If Xu is convicted of leading a so-called "Evil Cult" he could face the death penalty.Posted by Clifton at June 21, 2004 10:51 AM | TrackBack