China — The drawn-out saga between the People’s Court of Shunde District in Foshan, Guandong, and the Shengjia House Church seems to be ending.

On Jan. 17, the People’s Court sentenced Preacher Deng Yanxiang to two years in prison. He is scheduled to be released in May because he has already served more than 18 months.

Preacher Deng Yanxiang joins four other members of his house church who have been imprisoned for alleged illegal business operations. The charges were tied to the church’s publications, including Daily Bible Readings and Interpretations, which were sold and distributed to locals.

These five Shengjia Christians were arrested in August 2023 for their Christian literature and materials. Local Christians have said that charges by local Communist officials for fraud and “illegal business operations” are frequently used against unregistered house churches throughout China.
Sources:persecution

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Vietnamese authorities have arrested 71-year-old Pastor Nguyen Manh Hung in Ho Chi Minh City, charging him with spreading “anti-state propaganda.” Officers also detained his son during the same raid but later released him after several hours of interrogation.

Pastor Nguyen was taken into custody during a raid on his home, where police reportedly cut off electricity before entering the premises, according to Radio Free Asia, which said they handcuffed him as soon as he opened the door, citing an arrest warrant under Article 117 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.

The law prohibits the distribution of content deemed to be against the state, with penalties of up to 20 years in prison. Officials also seized mobile phones, laptops and some documents from the scene, the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported.

The pastor’s son, identified as Nguyen Tran Hien, was taken to the Ministry of Public Security’s Institute for Criminal Sciences on the same day. He was questioned about his father’s activities, including alleged bank transactions, before being released at midnight. He was not charged but had to surrender his phone and laptop during the interrogation process, according to witness accounts.

Pastor Nguyen was taken to a detention facility to be held for four months pending further investigation, based on statements from his family.

Authorities claim that Pastor Nguyen’s use of social media amounted to “anti-state propaganda,” reported the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern.

Investigators noted a Facebook post from Jan. 14 in which the pastor suggested that while Vietnam’s Communist Party once called land purchasers “cruel landlords,” it now refers to those who allegedly acquire land through abuse of power as “outstanding.”

Pastor Nguyen is the first individual arrested on such charges since the start of this year and the second since To Lam took office as Vietnam’s general secretary in August 2024.

Nguyen Manh Hung was previously associated with the Chuong Bo Protestant Church, an independent Mennonite congregation, and he remains a member of the Interfaith Council of Vietnam. The council advocates for religious freedom across the country. Neither the church nor the council are officially registered with Vietnamese authorities, which is required under law.

Although many of those who have encountered legal trouble in similar cases come from minority ethnic groups in Vietnam’s central highlands, Pastor Nguyen belongs to the Kinh majority group.

The pastor has faced repeated harassment from the authorities over the past 15 years. He has spoken out against reported instances of corruption and human rights violations in the country.

In 2015, he appeared before a U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee investigating alleged religious freedom violations in Vietnam.

His current detention is part of an ongoing clampdown on critics of the country’s one-party system. Cases involving criticism of the Communist Party or allegations of corruption often receive heightened scrutiny in Vietnam.

Before his ministry, Nguyen served as a soldier in the Northern Vietnam Army during the Vietnam War. He later worked in management roles and briefly entered a monastery before becoming a pastor in 2011.
Sources:Christian Post

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സോഷ്യൽ മീഡിയ വഴി മതനിന്ദ നടത്തിയെന്ന് ആരോപിച്ച് പാക്കിസ്ഥാനിൽ നാല് യുവാക്കൾക്ക് വധശിക്ഷ വിധിച്ചു. ഇസ്ലാമിനെ നിന്ദിക്കുന്ന കാര്യങ്ങൾ സോഷ്യൽ മീഡിയയിൽ പോസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്തുവെന്നാണ് പഞ്ചാബ് പ്രവിശ്യയിൽ നിന്നുള്ള 20നും 32നും ഇടയിൽ പ്രായമുള്ള നാല് യുവാക്കൾക്ക് എതിരെയുള്ള ആരോപണം.

“അവരിൽ മൂന്ന് പേർ ലാഹോറിൽ നിന്നുള്ളവരും ഒരാൾ ബഹവൽപൂരിൽ നിന്നുള്ളതുമാണ്. വിവാദപരമായ ഉള്ളടക്കം പങ്കിടുന്ന സോഷ്യൽ മീഡിയ ഗ്രൂപ്പുകളിൽ അവർ കബളിപ്പിക്കപ്പെട്ട് ചേർന്നതായിരുന്നു. മതനിന്ദാപരമായ ഉള്ളടക്കം അവരുടെ ഫോണുകളിൽ സൂക്ഷിക്കാനും മറ്റുള്ളവരുമായി ഷെയർ ചെയ്യാനും കാരണമായത് കബളിപ്പിക്കപ്പെട്ടായിരുന്നു.”- മതനിന്ദാ കുറ്റം ചുമത്തപ്പെട്ട കുടുംബങ്ങൾ ചേർന്ന് രൂപീകരിച്ച ഗ്രൂപ്പായ വോയ്‌സ് ഓഫ് ദി വിക്ടിംസ് ഓഫ് ബ്ലാസ്‌ഫെമി ബിസിനസ് ഗ്രൂപ്പിലെ ഒരു അജ്ഞാത അംഗത്തിന്റെ മൊഴികൾ വ്യക്തമാക്കുന്നു.

സെന്റർ ഫോർ സോഷ്യൽ ജസ്റ്റിസ് (CSJ) എന്ന അഭിഭാഷക ഗ്രൂപ്പിലെ അംഗമായ ഒരു അഭിഭാഷകൻ നസീർ വില്യം, പാക്കിസ്ഥാനിൽ ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികൾക്കെതിരായ വർധിച്ചുവരുന്ന പീഡനങ്ങളിലും മതനിന്ദ ആരോപിക്കപ്പെടുന്ന കേസുകളിലും ആശങ്ക രേഖപ്പെടുത്തി. “ഈ ഇരകൾക്ക് ദീർഘകാലമായി അർഹമായ നഷ്ടപരിഹാരം നൽകാൻ സർക്കാർ അധികാരികളോട് അഭ്യർഥിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് പത്രസമ്മേളനങ്ങൾ നടത്തുന്നു. ദേശീയ അസംബ്ലിയുടെ സ്റ്റാൻഡിംഗ് കമ്മിറ്റി ജനുവരി 27 ന് വൈകുന്നേരം സെഷനിൽ ഇക്കാര്യം ചർച്ച ചെയ്യും. കുറഞ്ഞത് ഈ ഇരകൾക്ക് കോടതിയിൽ അപ്പീൽ കൊടുക്കാനെങ്കിലുമുള്ള അവകാശം നൽകണം” വില്യം പറഞ്ഞു.

കഴിഞ്ഞ വർഷം 19 ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികൾ ഉൾപ്പെടെ 343 പേർക്കെതിരെ കേസുകൾ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു. അതിൽ അഞ്ചുപേർ സ്ത്രീകളാണ്. പാക്കിസ്ഥാനിൽ ഇസ്‌ലാമിനും മുഹമ്മദ് നബിക്കും എതിരെയുള്ള മതനിന്ദ ജീവപര്യന്തമോ വധശിക്ഷയോ ലഭിക്കാവുന്ന ഗുരുതരമായ കുറ്റമായി കണക്കാക്കപ്പെടുന്നു. മിക്ക കേസുകളിലും, പാക്കിസ്ഥാനിൽ മതനിന്ദാ നിയമങ്ങൾ സ്വകാര്യ നേട്ടങ്ങൾക്കായി – പണമോ വ്യക്തിപരമോ ആയ നേട്ടങ്ങൾക്കായി ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നു.
Sources:azchavattomonline.com

A Pakistani court has sentenced four men to death on blasphemy charges in the garrison city of Rawalpindi for allegedly uploading sacrilegious content about the Quran and Islamic figures.
Tariq Ayub, a judge who awarded the sentence, said the contempt of figures sacred to Muslims and insulting the Quran were unforgivable offences that don’t deserve mercy. He sentenced the four men to death and also fined them 4.6 million Pakistani rupees (approximately $16,000). They were identified as Rana Usman, Ashfaque Ali, Salman Sajjad, and Wajid Ali.
According to the court order, dated Jan 24, the four individuals were sentenced to death by hanging for using derogatory remarks against the Holy Prophet. They were also sentenced to life in prison for defiling the Holy Quran and to 10 years’ imprisonment for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. “All the sentences shall run concurrently,” the order read.
The prosecution lawyer said the case was supported by forensic evidence from the devices used. The men’s lawyer, Manzoor Rahmani, criticised the court’s order, saying doubts and uncertainties that arise in such cases are ignored by the courts, likely due to fear of a religious backlash and potential mob violence against the judge if the accused is acquitted.

We are preparing our appeals against the decision and will go to the high court,” Rahmani said. A member of a support group formed by the families of the accused was quoted by media as saying the pattern of arrests and prosecutions in this case was consistent with previous ones.
“We urge the government to establish a commission to investigate the rise in these cases before these young individuals spend the best years of their lives behind bars,” said the support group member.
Critics say blasphemy accusations, whether true or false, often lead to lengthy prison sentences on death row and solitary confinement. The laws, according to them, are often abused to settle scores or used to target members of Pakistan’s religious minorities.
Hundreds of people have been accused of blasphemy since the draconian laws were introduced by former dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s. Nearly 100 people have been reportedly lynched to death so far while dozens remain on death row.

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