CHINA: “President Xi has launched a war against the church and the cross”
Dr Bob Fu told Church in Chains’ conference that President Xi Jinping has launched three wars against religious freedom.
CHINA: Bob Fu launches new report
In Dublin, Dr Bob Fu recently launched Church in Chains’ new report “CHINA’s CRACKDOWN ON CHRISTIANITY”
IRAN: UN Rapporteur issues recommendations on freedom of religion
UN Rapporteur Javaid Rehman calls for an end to the criminalisation of the peaceful expression of faith
IRAN: Fatemeh Bakhteri summoned to prison
Christian convert Fatemeh Bakhteri has been summoned to Tehran’s Evin prison, where she began serving her sentence on 31 August.
NIGERIA: Government says Leah Sharibu is alive
The Nigerian government released a statement confirming that kidnapped Christian teenager, Leah Sharibu, was alive and that it was still negotiating her release with Boko Haram.
PAKISTAN: Asia Bibi gives first newspaper interview since release
In her first newspaper interview since being released from prison, Asia Bibi has spoken of the despair she often felt during her long wait for justice.
ERITREA: Crackdown continues as eighty more Christians detained
On Sunday 18 August, Eritrean security officials raided a home church and detained eighty Christians, including men, women and children.
CHINA: Early Rain Covenant Church elder Li Yingqiang released on bail
Elder Li Yingqiang from Early Rain Covenant Church in Sichuan province has been released on bail and sent to his home town in Hubei province.
SOMALIA: Christian mother divorced and beaten after Bible discovered
A Christian woman’s husband divorced her when he found her hidden Bible, and her brothers beat her.
CHINA: Huoshi (Living Stone) Church raided again
Officials raided two meeting locations of Huoshi (Living Stone) Church, Guizhou province, on 4 August and 31 July and confiscated property and interrogated two pastors.
INDIA: Police in Bihar criticised for bias and inaction
Police took no action after Pastor Shelton Viswanathan was beaten by Hindu extremists.
ERITREA: Concerns for elderly patriarch
The 92-year-old head of the Eritrean Orthodox Church, Patriarch Antonios, has been accused of heresy by five pro-government bishops.
IRAN: Sevada Aghasar released from prison
Iranian Christian Sevada Aghasar was conditionally released from Tehran’s Evin Prison on Sunday 21 July.
IRAN: Church cross reinstated after global outcry
The cross on top of an Assyrian church building in Tabriz has been reinstated, following international outcry.
CHINA: Persecution timeline of Xunsiding Church
Many house churches are closed down in the coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian Province, including Xunsiding Church.
IRAN: Eight Christian converts arrested; five others summoned to prison
On 1 July, security agents arrested eight Christians in Bushehr, southwest Iran, while on 5 July, five other Christians began serving prison sentences in Karaj.
CHINA: Pastor John Cao’s appeal hearing scheduled for 22 August
On 2 July, the Pu’er Intermediate People’s Court in China’s Yunan province issued a notice stating that Pastor John Cao’s appeal hearing has been scheduled for 22 August 2019.
PAKISTAN: Ambassador says “it is going to take time to change attitudes”
Mr Sardar Shuja Alam (Ambassador of Pakistan) has said he believes that Pakistan’s government cannot immediately reform the country’s blasphemy laws.
ERITREA: Women and children arrested in latest church raids
The crackdown on Christians has continued in June 2019 with another church raid, more arrests of Christians, including five Orthodox priests, and the closure of health centres run by the Catholic Church.
PAKISTAN: Zafar Bhatti’s appeal adjourned for seventh time
On 19 June, the appeal of Zafar Bhatti against the life sentence for blasphemy was adjourned yet again.