Three Pastors and Christian Musician Arrested

(Compass) – Eritrean police have jailed three prominent pastors and a popular Christian singer over the past three weeks, escalating a two-year government crackdown against the country’s evangelical Christians. Haile Naizgi, chairman of the Full Gospel (Mullu Wongel) Church, and Dr. Kifle Gebremeskel, chairman of the Eritrean Evangelical Alliance, were arrested at 6 a.m. at their homes in Asmara on Sunday, May 23. Four days later, Pastor Tesfatsion Hagos of the Rema Evangelical Church in Asmara was arrested while visiting the port city of Massawa . Helen Berhane, 29, who recently released an album of music popular among youth, has been incarcerated since May 13 in a shipping container at the Mai Serwa military camp. A member of the Rema Church , Berhane has reportedly refused demands that she sign a paper recanting her faith in Christ and that she promise to stop participating in Christian activities in Eritrea . To date, none of these Protestant Christians have been produced in court or charged with legal offenses, as required by law within 48 hours of arrest.