The Headlines

BANGLADESH: Two Christian Families Suffer Extortion, Beatings 05/08/10 | PINGNA, Bangladesh, August 2 (CDN) — Two Christian women in Bangladesh’s northern district of Jamalpur said village officials extorted relatively large sums of money from them – and severely beat the husband of one – for proclaiming Christ to Muslims. Johura Begum, 42, of Pingna village said a member of the local union council, an area government representative and the father of a police officer threatened to harm her grown daughters if her family did not pay them 20,000 taka (US$283). ... Full Story

INDONESIA: Muslim Protestors Surround Worshipers in Bekasi 05/08/10 | DUBLIN, August 4 (CDN) — Around 300 Muslim protestors and 300 police officers surrounded members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (Huria Kristen Batak Protestan or HKBP) on Sunday (Aug. 1) as they worshiped in an open field in Ciketing, Bekasi, local sources said. ... Full Story

PAKISTAN: Suspected Islamists Shoot Five Christians to Death 02/08/10 | SUKKUR, Pakistan, July 29 (Compass Direct News) – A dozen masked men shot five Christians to death as they came out of their church building here on July 15, two months after a banned Islamic extremist group sent church leaders a threatening letter, relatives said. Pastor Aaron John and church members Rohail Bhatti, Salman John, Abid Gill and Shamin Mall of Full Gospel Church were leaving the church building after meeting to discuss security in light of threats they had received, said the pastor’s son, Shahid John. ... Full Story

NIGERIA: Seven Die in Religious Violence near Jos 02/08/10 | At least seven people, including an eight year old boy, were murdered, and more than ten houses and a church were burnt to the ground in the early hours of Saturday, July 17, when a mob of about 100 Muslims attacked the village of Mazah. The small farming community is situated in a mountainous area less than ten kilometres outside the Plateau State capital, Jos, where hundreds have died in recent incidents of religious violence. ... Full Story

PAKISTAN: Christian Nursing Student Nearly Dies from Assault 29/07/10 | KARACHI, Pakistan, July 26 (CDN) — A Catholic nurse trainee has regained consciousness after a Muslim doctor allegedly raped her and threw her from a hospital’s fourth-floor window this month. The student nurse told media and rights groups that on July 13 several Muslim men, led by Dr. Abdul Jabbar Meammon, beat and raped her, and then threw her from the window of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) to keep her from revealing the abuse. ... Full Story

DAGESTAN: Pastor in Russian Republic Killed 29/07/10 | ISTANBUL, July 28 (CDN) — A pastor in the Russian republic of Dagestan known for founding the biggest Protestant church in the region and for successfully reaching out to Muslims has been killed by unidentified gunmen, local authorities have confirmed. ... Full Story

VIETNAM: Government-Incited Gang Attacks House Church 29/07/10 | HO CHI MINH CITY, July 23 (CDN) — A gang of youths on Sunday (July 18) attacked a house church as the congregation worshiped in Xi Thoai village in Phu Yen Province on Vietnam’s south central coast, Christian sources said. The local youths smashed the walls of the home and wreaked havoc within as they railed against evangelist Mang Vuong for being a Christian and for building his home to be a house church, the sources said. ... Full Story

ETHIOPIA: Teenage MBB Murdered for Declining Muslim Marriage Proposal 22/07/10 | A thirteen year old Muslim Background Believer (MBB), Nura Ahmed, was stabbed to death on June 2 apparently for refusing to renounce Christ and marry the Muslim who had been harassing her some time prior to her death. ... Full Story

Eyewitness Report: North Koreans are Panicking 22/07/10 | North Korea is moving closer and closer to the edge. In secret, Open Doors spoke with a Christian from the No. 1 country on the Open Doors World Watch List of nations persecuting Christians. Over the course of the past eight months, he has witnessed a change in his fellow countrymen. “It is downright chaos and utter panic.” ... Full Story

ISRAEL: Messianic Jewish Church Won’t Appeal Court Ruling 15/07/10 | ISTANBUL, July 14 (Compass Direct News) – A congregation of Messianic Jews in Israel who recently lost a lawsuit against an ultra-orthodox Jewish group that allegedly incited a riot against them has decided not to appeal their case, the church’s pastor said. ... Full Story

PAKISTAN: Muslim Mob Kills Wife and Children of Christian 15/07/10 | ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 8 (Compass Direct News) – A Muslim mob in Jhelum, Pakistan murdered the wife and four children of a Christian last month, but local authorities are too afraid of the local Muslim leader to file charges, according to area Muslim and Christian sources. ... Full Story

INDONESIA: Church Closure Called Unconstitutional at Hearing 01/07/10 | JAKARTA, Indonesia, June 18 (Compass Direct News) – In a hearing in its lawsuit against a local government, a representative for a church that Bekasi, West Java officials summarily closed earlier this year told an administrative court that the action was unconstitutional. The Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP) Filadelfia Church filed a lawsuit on March 30 against the local government for its Jan. 12 sealing of the building under construction. ... Full Story

MOROCCO: Islamists Use Facebook to Target Christians 01/07/10 | RABAT, Morocco, June 17 (Compass Direct News) – Moroccan Christians say Muslim extremists in the country are aiding and encouraging the government to pursue them by exposing and vilifying them on social networking site Facebook. Facebook user Gardes Maroc Maroc has posted 32 image collages featuring dozens of Christian converts, calling them “hyena evangelists” or “wolves in lamb’s skins” who are trying to “shake the faith of Muslims” on the Arabic-language site. ... Full Story

Somalia: Family of Young Girl Abuses Her for Leaving Islam 17/06/10 | NAIROBI, Kenya, June 15 (Compass Direct News) – The Muslim parents of a 17-year-old Somali girl who converted to Christianity severely beat her for leaving Islam and have regularly shackled her to a tree at their home for more than a month, Christian sources said. Nurta Mohamed Farah of Bardher, Gedo Region in southern Somalia, has been confined to her home since May 10, when her family found out that she had embraced Christianity. ... Full Story

Pakistan: Christian Woman Abused, Forced to Resign 17/06/10 | SARGODHA, Pakistan, June 10 (Compass Direct News) – A Christian woman here said she has been falsely accused of theft, beaten, threatened with rape and forced to resign her job in a bid to keep her from obtaining full benefits as a regular government employee. ... Full Story

Egypt: Couple Shot by Muslim Extremists Undaunted in Ministry 10/06/10 | CAIRO, Egypt, June 8 (Compass Direct News) – On the afternoon of Feb. 27, lay pastor Ephraim Shehata and his wife Rasha Samir were ambushed on a desolate street by a group of Islamic gunmen outside the village of Teleda in Upper Egypt. The attack was meant to “break the hearts of the Christians” in the area, Samir said. ... Full Story

India: Recent Incidents of Persecution Briefs 07/06/10 | Karnataka, June 1 (Compass Direct News) – Hindu nationalists on May 27 falsely accused a pastor of forcible conversion in Rajanpura village, Hassan district, after disrupting a worship service. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that the intolerant Hindus also warned the Christians not to worship in the area. ... Full Story

Pakistan: Kidnapped Christian Woman Escapes 07/06/10 | RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, May 31 (Compass Direct News) – A Christian woman who was kidnapped, forced to marry a Muslim farmer and told to convert to Islam amid a dispute over a loan said today she has returned home after weeks of “captivity and torture.” ... Full Story

Maryam and Marzieh Acquitted and Free 27/05/10 | The press release of Elam Ministries reads: Fourteen months after they were arrested for their Christian faith and activities, Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh have been acquitted of all charges by the Iranian judicial authorities. However, they were warned that any future Christian activity in Iran will be seriously dealt with. ... Full Story

YEMEN: Christian Girls Kidnapped now Rescued 20/05/10 | ISTANBUL, May 18 (Compass Direct News) – Saudi Arabian and Yemeni security forces rescued two German girls yesterday, 11 months after the two young sisters, their parents, brother and four other Christians were taken hostage in Yemen. ... Full Story

EGYPT: Convert from Islam Devastated by ‘Delay Tactic’ 20/05/10 | CAIRO, Egypt, May 17 (Compass Direct News) – An Egyptian convert to Christianity said he is devastated by a recent court decision to suspend a lawsuit he filed to change the religion on his identification card from Muslim to Christian. The First District of the Court of the State Council on April 27 suspended Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy’s case until the Constitutional Court rules on a challenge to Article 47, a section of the civil code that, in theory, allows Egyptians to change the religion listed on their ID card. ... Full Story

IRAQ: Bomb Attack Seriously Injures Christian Students 06/05/10 | ISTANBUL, May 5 (Compass Direct News) – At least 50 Iraqi Christian students are receiving hospital treatment following a bomb attack on Sunday (May 2) outside Mosul that killed at least one person and has forced nearly 1,000 students to drop classes for the rest of the semester. ... Full Story

INDONESIA: Muslims Burn Christian Center under Construction 06/05/10 | JAKARTA, Indonesia, May 4 (Compass Direct News) – Hundreds of people calling themselves the Muslim Community of the Puncak Route last week burned buildings under construction belonging to a Christian organization in West Java Province. ... Full Story

NIGERIA: Two Church of Christ Journalists Killed in Jos 29/04/10 | LAGOS, Nigeria, April 27 (Compass Direct News) – The killing of Christians in Jos, Plateau state in Nigeria continued over the weekend with two journalists and five other persons falling victim to Muslim youth gangs. ... Full Story

KYRGYZSTAN: Church Asks For Our Prayers 22/04/10 | President Kurmanbek Bakiyev came to power in 2005, during the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan. Many people hoped that he would bring an end to the corruption in the country and restore the economy. In 2009 he was officially re-elected as president, although observers described the poll as a "disappointment", saying it failed to meet key standards. Political opponents claim he became increasingly authoritarian, and accused him of corruption, nepotism and a media crackdown. ... Full Story

TURKEY: New Evidence Stalls Murder Trial in Malatya 22/04/10 | MALATYA, Turkey, April 21 (Compass Direct News) – On the eve of three-year commemorations of the murders of three Christians in southeast Turkey, defense lawyers’ absence and new evidence kept a Malatya court from concluding the case here on Thursday (April 15). Two defense lawyers excused themselves from the hearing, rendering the judges unable to issue a verdict to the five defendants charged with the murders of three Christians in Malatya on April 18, 2007 ... Full Story

CHINA: Christian Rights Activist Gao Zhisheng Released 15/04/10 | DUBLIN, April 9 (Compass Direct News) – Christian human rights activist Gao Zhisheng, kidnapped by state security agents on Feb. 4, 2009, has been released, though he appears unable to move or speak freely. On Tuesday (April 6), Gao told Bob Fu, president of the U.S.-based China Aid Association (CAA), by telephone that he had just returned to his Beijing apartment from his guarded location in Shanxi Province. ... Full Story

PAKISTAN: Christian Woman Jailed under ‘Blasphemy’ Laws 01/04/10 | GUJRANWALA, Pakistan, March 24 (Compass Direct News) – Police in Alipur have arrested a Christian woman on a baseless accusation of “blaspheming” the prophet of Islam and tried to keep rights groups from discovering the detention, a Christian leader said. ... Full Story

INDONESIA: Construction of Two Churches Stopped 01/04/10 | JAKARTA, Indonesia, March 25 (Compass Direct News) – An Islamic mob stopped construction of Santa Maria Immaculata Catholic Church in Citra Garden, West Jakarta earlier this month even as government officials in Yasmin Park, Bogor, West Java halted work on an Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) building. ... Full Story

NIGERIA: Second Wave of Attacks Near Jos Leaves 13 Christians Dead 21/03/10 | LAGOS, Nigeria, March 17 (Compass Direct News) – Less than two weeks after a massive attack in Nigeria that killed 500 Christians, Muslim Fulani herdsmen today unleashed more horrific violence on two Christian villages in Plateau state, killing 13 persons, including a pregnant woman and children. ... Full Story

NIGERIA: Statement on Dogo Nahawa Violence 11/03/10 | Open Doors (OD) representatives in Nigeria say the atmosphere in Dogo Nahawa south of Jos remains tense two days after the slaughter of as many as 500 mostly Christian villagers on Sunday, March 7. ... Full Story

IRAN: Pastor Tortured, Threatened for ‘Converting Muslims’ 11/03/10 | ISTANBUL, March 8 (Compass Direct News) – An Assyrian pastor the Iranian government accused of “converting Muslims” is being tortured in prison and threatened with execution, sources close to the case said. State Security agents on Feb. 2 arrested the Rev. Wilson Issavi, 65, shortly after he finished a house meeting at a friend’s home in Isfahan, 208 miles (335 kilometers) south of Tehran ... Full Story

MOROCCO: Christians expelled, 33 children separated from their families 11/03/10 | Since last weekend at least twenty foreigners have been expelled from Morocco for alleged proselytizing. 20 of them are Christian aid workers who worked in an orphanage at 70 kilometers from the city of Fez, giving a home to children who are abandoned by their own parents. Now the 33 children have been abandoned for the second time, simply because their caregivers are Christians. ... Full Story

TURKEY: A Turkish Court Pushes to Close Malatya Murder Case 02/03/10 | MALATYA, Turkey, February 24 (Compass Direct News) – On Friday (Feb. 19) judges eager to wrap up the trial over the murder of three Christians here rejected plaintiff appeals to investigate the suspected masterminds behind the stabbing deaths. ... Full Story

IRAQ: Ove 300 Christian Families Leave Mosul 02/03/10 | Father Emanuel Youkhana reports to Open Doors that; following to the recent outbreak of violence against Christians in Mosul, over 300 families have left the violent city, and “the numbers are expected to increase,” he adds. An Open Doors worker in Iraq says: “This number of over 300 families that left Mosul is very well possible, the Assyrian church is represented in most of the villages on the Nineveh plain, so they have a good overview.” ... Full Story

EGYPT: Another Copt Killed as Alleged Shooters Plead Not Guilty 23/02/10 | ISTANBUL, February 16 (Compass Direct News) – Three men accused of killing six Coptic worshipers and a security guard pleaded not guilty on Saturday (Feb. 13) as the Coptic community mourned the loss of yet another victim of apparent anti-Christian violence. The three men allegedly sprayed a crowd with gunfire after a Christmas service in Nag Hammadi on Jan. 6. ... Full Story