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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South Sudan — Intelligence agents of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) on Jan. 14 arrested and tortured at least seven Christians in Shendi, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of Khartoum, sources said.

The members of the Sudanese Church of Christ had sought refuge in areas controlled by the SAF from the military fighting in Khartoum, but upon arrival in Shendi, River Nile state, they were arrested by personnel from Military Intelligence, according to the Sudanese Christian Youth Union.

Military Intelligence agents accused the Christians of supporting the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and receiving stolen money, with the Christians denying both allegations. The youth union asserted that the false accusations were an excuse to arrest the Christians, and an attorney following the case said authorities tortured them into confessing.

The Christian attorney, Shinbago Mugaddam, said the seven young Christians were denied legal aid, tortured and taken to a sham trial on the same day as their arrest.

“They were arrested by the army intelligence and were subjected to beatings and interrogations,” Mugaddam, following the case from another country as a refugee from the war, told Morning Star News. “A case was opened against them where the complainant and the witnesses for the accusation were all members of the armed forces. The court did not ask them whether they needed a lawyer or had witnesses to deny this incident, knowing that they were beaten and forced to confess and provide evidence against themselves.”

The accusers and the witness were all from Military Intelligence, and they forced the Christians to plead guilty against their will, he said.

“These youths were tried under Article 174 of the Sudanese Criminal Code of 1994 relating to theft in a summary trial in the Shendi Court, River Nile state, where the conditions for a fair trial were not met,” Mugaddam said.

The Union of Sudanese Christian Youth condemned the arrests and called for their immediate release. Describing the arrests as a violation of human and religious rights in Sudan, the body urged all rights groups, regional and international organizations to intervene and protect those who have been jailed without evidence.

“We in the Sudanese Christian Youth Union hereby condemn these violations that are based on the religion, color and ethnicity” reads the statement issued on Turesday (Jan. 21).

In October, 26 Christians were arrested by Military Intelligence in Shendi after fleeing areas under RSF control in Khartoum.

Sudan’s military-led government in May approved a law restoring broad powers and immunities to intelligence officers that had been stripped after the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. The General Intelligence Service (GIS) Law (2024 Amendment) empowers intelligence officers to summon and interrogate individuals, conduct surveillance and searches, detain suspects and seize assets, according to the Sudan War Monitor.

The amendment granted extensive immunity, shielding agents from criminal or civil prosecution without the approval of the head of GIS. In capital punishment cases, it gave the director authority to form a special court.

“Any act committed by any member of the agency in good faith during or because of the performance of his job duties, or the performance of any duty imposed on him, or from any act issued by him under any authority authorized or granted to him under this law, shall not be considered a crime,” the law’s Article 52 states, according to the Sudan War Monitor.

Sudan was ranked No. 5 among the 50 countries where it’s most difficult to be a Christian in Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List (WWL), down from No. 8 the prior year.

Conditions in Sudan worsened as civil war that broke out in April 2023 intensified. Sudan registered increases in the number of Christians killed and sexually assaulted and Christian homes and businesses attacked, according to the WWL report.

“Christians of all backgrounds are trapped in the chaos, unable to flee. Churches are shelled, looted and occupied by the warring parties,” the report stated.

Since April 2023 militants of the paramilitary RSF have been battling the SAF, and each Islamist force has attacked displaced Christians on accusations of supporting the other’s combatants.

The conflict between the RSF and the SAF, which had shared military rule in Sudan following an October 2021 coup, has terrorized civilians in Khartoum and elsewhere, killing tens of thousands and displacing more than 12.36 million people within and beyond Sudan’s borders, according to the U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights (UNCHR).

The SAF’s Gen. Abdelfattah al-Burhan and his then-vice president, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, were in power when civilian parties in March 2023 agreed on a framework to re-establish a democratic transition the next month, but disagreements over military structure torpedoed final approval.

Burhan sought to place the RSF — a paramilitary outfit with roots in the Janjaweed militias that had helped former strongman Omar al-Bashir put down rebels — under the regular Army’s control within two years, while Dagolo would accept integration within nothing fewer than 10 years.

Both military leaders have Islamist backgrounds while trying to portray themselves to the international community as pro-democracy advocates of religious freedom.

Sudan had dropped out of the top 10 of the WWL list for the first time in six years when it first ranked No. 13 in 2021.

Following two years of advances in religious freedom in Sudan after the end of the Islamist dictatorship under Bashir in 2019, the specter of state-sponsored persecution returned with the military coup of Oct. 25, 2021. After Bashir was ousted from 30 years of power in April 2019, the transitional civilian-military government had managed to undo some Sharia (Islamic law) provisions. It outlawed the labeling of any religious group “infidels” and thus effectively rescinded apostasy laws that made leaving Islam punishable by death.

With the Oct. 25, 2021, coup, Christians in Sudan feared the return of the most repressive and harsh aspects of Islamic law. Abdalla Hamdok, who had led a transitional government as prime minister starting in September 2019, was detained under house arrest for nearly a month before he was released and reinstated in a tenuous power-sharing agreement in November 2021.

Hamdock had been faced with rooting out longstanding corruption and an Islamist “deep state” from Bashir’s regime — the same deep state that is suspected of rooting out the transitional government in the 2021 coup.

The U.S. State Department in 2019 removed Sudan from the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) that engage in or tolerate “systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom” and upgraded it to a watch list. Sudan had previously been designated as a CPC from 1999 to 2018.

In December 2020, the State Department removed Sudan from its Special Watch List.

The Christian population of Sudan is estimated at 2 million, or 4.5% of the population of more than 43 million.
Sources:Christian Post

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