http://www.compassdirect.org/News of Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faithenhttp://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5754DHAKA, Bangladesh, January 6 (Compass Direct News) – The torture and harassment that a Christian pastor in Meherpur district has faced for more than a year loomed anew last month when a 4,000-strong crowd of Muslims celebrating Islam’s largest festival accused him of “misleading” Muslims. Jhontu Biswas, 31, said residents of Fulbaria town, 270 kilometers (168 miles) west of Dhaka, accused him of misleading Muslims by distributing Christian booklets. They confronted him en masse on Dec. 9 as they gathered for the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival of sacrifice. Biswas denied the accusations against him, and the Muslims threatened to harm him and other converts to Christianity if a new government came to power following Dec. 29 elections, he said. “They said, ‘You will be in great trouble at that time,’” Biswas said. Fortunately for Biswas, the left-leaning Awami League-led Grand Alliance won a landslide victory in the election, and it does not include Islamic fundamentalist parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami. On Dec. 31, 2007, police had arrested Biswas on trumped-up drug charges – but instead of taking him to the police station, they took him to a nearby mosque. “They told me, ‘If you accept Islam after confessing to Christianity and ask forgiveness of Allah, we will not do anything against you and release you,’” Biswas said. “They beat me with sticks in the mosque after my vehement denial to their proposal.” Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0100http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5753KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, January 5 (Compass Direct News) – Malaysia’s Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered the Catholic weekly Herald to cease publishing its Malay-language section pending the outcome of a court case over the newspaper’s right to use the Arabic word “Allah” for God. The ministry also included two other conditions: The newspaper can be sold only in churches, and it must be printed clearly on the cover that it is meant for Christians only. The three conditions were included in the renewal notice of the weekly’s annual printing license issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday (Dec. 30). A hearing in the court case is scheduled for Feb. 27. The publisher of the Herald has rejected the conditions imposed on the newspaper and on Friday (Jan. 2) submitted a letter of appeal to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Herald, told Compass that the letter did not specify consequences if the newspaper does not comply with the conditions. Earlier, Fr. Andrew reportedly said the ban was “unacceptable” and urged the government to “let the court decide” and not “jump the gun.” Mon, 05 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0100http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5743DHAKA, Bangladesh, December 26 (Compass Direct News) – Buddhist villagers in southeastern Bangladesh’s Rangamati district last week beat a young father and drove him from his house for converting to Christianity. The Buddhists in Asambosti, in the Tabalchari area some 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Dhaka, warned Sujan Chakma, 27, not to return to his home after beating him on Dec. 18. Chakma, who converted to Christianity about four months ago, has come back to his home but some nights the likelihood of attacks forces him to remain outside. He is often unable to provide for his 26-year-old wife, Shefali Chakma, and their 6-year-old son, as area residents opposed to his faith refuse to give him work as a day laborer. Chakma, his wife and son do not eat on days he does not work, he said. “They threatened me that if I come back to my home, I will be in great trouble,” he said. Earlier this year in Rangamati district, Bengali Muslim settlers killed a tribal Christian for defending indigenous peoples from illegal land-grabs. On Aug. 19 Ladu Moni Chakma, 55, was stabbed repeatedly and his throat was cut at Sajek in Baghaichuri sub-district in Rangamati district after he reported to the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission how a military commander helped settle Bengali Muslims on area lands. Fri, 26 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5742ISTANBUL, December 23 (Compass Direct News) - A Pakistani Christian boy’s quarrel with a Muslim policeman’s son has led to his father’s imprisonment, torture, paralysis, and five-year prison sentence. The father’s health condition has become so fragile that he was temporarily released from prison and sent to a Faisalabad hospital on Sunday (Dec. 21). Emanuel Masih, 43, is now in stable condition, his attorney told Compass. Emanuel Masih is seeking to commute his prison sentence after policeman Omer Draz tortured and imprisoned him on trumped-up charges originating from a quarrel between their sons nine years ago. Police arrested Masih along with his brother-in-law Amin Masih, falsely implicating them in the alleged kidnapping of Draz’ housekeeper’s son, without possibility of bail. The two men were tortured for a month, according to a report from the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement advocacy group. Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5740ISTANBUL, December 19 (Compass Direct News) – Egyptian authorities have refused to hand over a 3-year-old girl to her Christian mother even after a court granted her custody in a legal battle with her Muslim ex-husband. Mervat Reszqallah of Tanta, 60 miles north of Cairo, was granted custody of her toddler daughter, Barthenia, by Judge Emaad Eldean Abedelhamed of the Court of Tanta on Aug. 7. Police, however, have refused to implement the court’s decision to take the child from her father. Fady Farhaat Labbib converted to Islam in May of 2006 in order to divorce Reszqallah and marry another woman. He applied for custody of Barthenia in order to raise her as a Muslim. This has kept the police from doing their duty, said human rights lawyer Naguib Gobrail. “The police insisted that the daughter must follow the father, because they are afraid she will eat pork, drink wine, go to the church and be educated in the Sunday school,” he said. Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5741Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5739DHAKA, Bangladesh, December 18 (Compass Direct News) – Buddhist clerics and local council officials are holding 13 newly converted Christians captive in a pagoda in a southeastern mountainous district of Bangladesh in an attempt to forcibly return them to Buddhism. A spokesman for the Parbatta Adivasi (Hill Tract) Christian Church told Compass on condition of anonymity that local government council officials in Jorachuri sub-district in Rangamati district, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Dhaka, are helping the Buddhist monks to hold the Christians against their will. “The 13 tribal Christians were taken forcefully to a pagoda on Dec. 10 to accept Buddhism against their will,” he said. “They will be kept in a pagoda for 10 days to perform the rituals to be Buddhists – their heads were shaved, and they were given yellow saffron robes to dress in.” Fearing for their lives, the source said, some area Christians have gone into hiding. Mogdhan Union Council Chairman Arun Kanti Chakma, the source said, warned that Christian converts would be ostracized, beaten, or killed. “The chairman threatened to beat the Christians unless they change their faith to Buddhism,” he said. “The chairman also threatened, ‘If you become Christian again, we will not keep you alive.’” Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5738HO CHI MINH CITY, December 17 (Compass Direct News) – Local government officials in Dak Lak Province this morning made good on their threat to destroy a new wooden church building erected in September by Hmong Christians in Cu Hat village. At 7 a.m. in Cu Dram Commune, Krong Bong district, a large contingent of government officials, police and demolition workers arrived at the site of a Vietnam Good News Mission and Church, razing it by 8:30 a.m. Police wielding electric cattle prods beat back hundreds of distraught Christians who rushed to the site to protect the building. Five injured people were taken away in an emergency vehicle authorities had brought to the scene. The injured included a child who suffered a broken arm and a pregnant woman who fainted after being poked in the stomach with an electric cattle prod. Villagers said they fear she may miscarry. By day’s end one badly injured woman had not yet been returned to the village, and authorities would not divulge where she was. One sad Vietnamese church leader said that the demolition of the church ahead of Christmas showed the heartlessness of officials toward Christian believers. “They think no one will notice or do anything about what they do in a remote area,” he said. Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5737AMBON, Indonesia, December 17 (Compass Direct News) – Government officials in Central Maluku, Indonesia, yesterday promised to reconstruct before Christmas two churches and a number of houses set ablaze last week during sectarian rioting in Letwaru village, Masohi district. The promises came after hundreds of activists from a local youth organization protested in the streets of nearby Ambon on Monday (Dec. 15), holding these officials responsible for failing to maintain law and order, local media reported. Also on Monday, police formally questioned a Christian elementary schoolteacher accused of making an anti-Islamic comment. Welhelmina Holle has been accused of insulting Islam while tutoring one of her students; following the Nov. 23 distribution of a flyer expressing the allegation against the schoolteacher, around 500 protestors gathered outside the education agency office and police headquarters on Dec. 9, and the protest quickly escalated into a full-scale riot. Enraged Muslims destroyed 69 buildings, including two churches, 42 homes owned by Christians, four shops and a village hall. They also inadvertently struck 16 homes owned by Muslims. Several people, including a police officer who attempted to stop the mob, were wounded during the rampage, according to Christian support agency Open Doors. Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5727ISTANBUL, December 16 (Compass Direct News) – After a judge yesterday placed new financial and social pressure on the captors of a Pakistani girl kidnapped and converted to Islam, attorneys have guarded optimism they can return her to custody of her Christian parents. Judge Malik Saeed Ijaz ordered the girl’s husband, Amjad Ali, to pay a dowry of 100,000 Pakistan rupees (US$1,275) and allow her parents visitation rights, two actions required by typical Pakistani marriage protocol. At press time he had done neither. Saba Masih appeared at the Multan branch of Lahore’s High Court yesterday along with her Muslim husband and his family. Her parents filed a contempt petition last month against her captors for failing to follow Pakistani marriage protocol. Islamic law (sharia), however, gives a wife the right to relinquish a dowry, and lawyers fear that the Muslim family will pressure her to claim this right in order to offset growing financial pressure. The girl’s family believes the kidnappers have threatened her with violence if she attempts to rejoin her family. “The main thing is Saba must be ready herself to come back,” said her uncle, Khalid Raheel, the family spokesman. “But she isn’t ready to come back yet, and I don’t know how they are convincing her.” On Wednesday (Dec. 17) the judge is expected to adjourn the case and issue a deed requiring Ali to pay the dowry at the convenience of the Masih family. The judge yesterday threatened Ali with prison time if he failed to carry out this order. Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0100