ICC Note: Sudanese authorities forcefully arrested 14 Christians and jailed them on July 7 for attempting to stop the authorities from seizing church property, according to Morning Star News. Authorities held the Christians in jail until their release on July 10 after paying fines. The arrest happened during a raid that the Sudanese officials conducted on an evangelical school on church property. The authorities are attempting to seize this property in order to give it to a Muslim business instead. Christians have faced persecution from the Sudanese government in various ways for several years; most recently there have been a number of arrests of Christian pastors facing trumped-up charges because of their gospel ministry. Christian persecution has intensified since South Sudan’s secession in 2011. Christians face arrest, Church destruction and social marginalization in the majority-Muslim country governed by Islamic law.
07/18/2016, Khartoum, Sudan (Morning Star News) – Sudanese security personnel in North Khartoum last week jailed 14 Christians after raiding an evangelical school on a church property the government is helping a Muslim business interest to seize, sources said.
Leaders of the Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church were inside the Evangelical School of Khartoum North trying to stop authorities from taking parts of the building at the time of the raid on July 7, they said. One source said police insulted the Christians and used force to arrest them. They were detained until Sunday (July 10) and released after paying fines.
Prior to their arrest, police detained 11 Christians at the school that morning but quickly released them. Of the 14 Christians arrested later that day and released on Sunday (July 10), 13 paid fines of 300 Sudanese pounds (about $US50), while one paid a fine of 500 Sudanese pounds ($US80) after a court found them guilty of public disorder and opposing police personnel under Public Order law article 77/169.
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