Christians and moderate Muslims in Indonesia fear new tensions after a hardline Islamic cleric returned from exile and held a massive wedding despite the coronavirus pandemic.
...continue reading this storyThe Chinese government is reportedly shutting down churches and repurposing their buildings into entertainment halls, factories, or “cultural centers,” the Christian Post reports. Moreover, the Chinese Communist Party (CPP) has been removing the words “Christ” and “Jesus” from a number of publications and various social media platforms.
...continue reading this storyThe U.S. State Department has condemned Iran’s reported flogging of a former Muslim-turned-Christian for drinking Communion wine.
...continue reading this storyA Christian convert in Iran has won an appeal against conviction for “insulting the sacred beliefs of Muslims,” but lost his appeal against two charges of inciting “propaganda against the state” and for “membership of a [“Zionist” evangelical] group hostile to the regime” respectively, the Christian Post reports. Ismaeil Maghrebinejad was arrested in January 2019 and sentenced by a civil court in January 2020 to a total of six years imprisonment on the original three charges.
...continue reading this storyAt least 12 Christians are understood to have been arrested by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRG) in what is believed to have been a coordinated round-up last week, the Christian Post reports. Announced by Article 18, a UK-based human rights non-profit organization, the arrests were said to have taken place in the cities of Tehran, Karaj and Malayer on June 30 and July 1.
...continue reading this storyIran has detained or intimidated dozens of devoted Christians in recent days as part of government efforts to halt the spread of Christianity in the Islamic nation, investigators say.
...continue reading this storySeven people who turned from Islam to Christianity have received prison terms, fines, or work restrictions in Iran for “propaganda against the state,” trial observers confirmed Wednesday.
...continue reading this storyU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed concern Wednesday about ongoing beheadings and other abuses of Christians and other faith groups in several nations.
...continue reading this storyVideo footage of a violent police raid on a church in the Fujian province of China was posted by Christian watchdog group ChinaAid this week. Broadcast by Fox News, the 11-second video shows members of the Xingguang Church blocking police officers who were forcibly entering the premises and a member being dragged out of the door.
...continue reading this storyChristian rights activist Mary (Fatemeh) Mohammadi says she has been sentenced to three months and one-day imprisonment and 10 lashes for publicly protesting Iran's downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane.
...continue reading this story