Year: 2018

Nigeriens call for Jeff Woodke’s release, 2 years after his abduction

November 13, 2018 Niger Abalak, Jeff Woodke, MUJAO, Niger

Jeff Woodke (Photo: Woodke's Facebook page)

On the second anniversary of the disappearance of the American Christian aid worker Jeff Woodke from his home in Abalak, northern Niger, community leaders have called on Niger’s president to secure his release. Woodke, 57, who worked for Jeunesse en Mission Entraide et Developpement (JEMED), was abducted by unknown assailants . . . Read More

‘Next time we will not survive’ – Middle East Christian refugee

November 12, 2018 Aleppo, Batnaya, Beirut, Hasakah, Iraq, Islamic State, Kirkuk, Lebanon, Middle East, Mosul, Qaraqosh, Raqqa, Refugees, Syria, UN

Boy outside a tent in a refugee camp in Lebanon. (Photo: World Vision)

As many as 80% of Syria’s Christians have left their country since the start of the civil war in 2011, while 50% of Iraq’s Christians have been uprooted since 2006, according to a report produced by Christian charities Open Doors International, Served and Middle East Concern last year, which said the . . . Read More

Prince Charles bypassing Jos ‘robbed Nigeria’s Christians of opportunity to create awareness about our travails’

November 9, 2018 Nigeria Fulani herdsmen, Jos, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Plateau, Prince Charles

Christians in Nigeria’s central state of Plateau are upset about the Federal Government of Nigeria advising Prince Charles to bypass Jos, the capital of Plateau, during his visit to the country as part of a tour of West Africa. Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, arrived in Abuja, the capital, . . . Read More

‘No grounds for review of Supreme Court ruling’ – Asia Bibi’s lawyer, who fled Pakistan

November 5, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Imran Khan, Islamic extremism, Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistan, Prophet Muhammad, Salmaan Taseer, Shahzad Masih, Shama Bibi, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan

The lawyer who defended the Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi* against blasphemy charges and secured her acquittal at the Supreme Court says he does not expect a review of her case to take place. As part of its agreement with an Islamist political party to stop its violent protests, the . . . Read More

Pakistan paralysed following Asia Bibi’s victory in Supreme Court

November 2, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Minorities, Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan

The victory of Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi in the Supreme Court has sparked nationwide protests, led by supporters of the Islamist political party Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP). TLP, which stands for the “Here-I-Am Movement”, is a rising party known for organising street protests in opposition to any changes to the blasphemy . . . Read More

‘Untouchable’ caste identity haunts Pakistani Christians like Asia Bibi

November 1, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Caste, Gilgit, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Karachi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore, Minorities, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, Peshawar, Punjab, Quetta, Sindh, Sweepers

Asia Bibi was on death row for blasphemy, after offering drinking water which she, as a Christian, was considered to have made “unclean” by her touch. She got into an argument over this. Many Pakistani Christians – who are about 2% of the population – are children of converts to . . . Read More

Pakistan PM appeals for calm after Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy

October 31, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Constitution, Imran Khan, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Pakistan, Pakistan Peoples Party, Prophet Muhammad, Punjab, Quran, Sharia, Sindh, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan

Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, this evening urged the nation not to let a fraction of people incite them to take the law into their own hands over the decision of the Supreme Court to release a Christian woman who had been facing the death penalty for blasphemy. The security . . . Read More

‘A victory for Pakistan and millions of its marginalised people’ – son of governor who was killed for defence of innocent Asia Bibi

October 31, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Islamabad, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Minorities, Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistan, Salmaan Taseer, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan

Shahbaz Taseer. (Photo: beenasarwar.com)

Demonstrations were held in several cities in Pakistan following the acquittal of Asia Bibi of blasphemy charges by the Supreme Court earlier today (31 October). However, the numbers were in the hundreds rather than the thousands that might have been anticipated. And the son of the ex-Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, . . . Read More

Pakistani mother Asia Bibi wins appeal against death sentence for blasphemy

October 31, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Imran Khan, Islamabad, Islamic extremism, Lahore, Minorities, Mumtaz Qadri, Pakistan, Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan

Asia Bibi is finally free, almost one decade after she was first imprisoned. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman on death row for blasphemy since 2010, has won her final appeal. She is expected to be freed from prison soon, but there are still fears for her personal safety, as many in the country still believe that she should die. Her case has divided . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian gets life for blasphemy despite learning difficulties

October 26, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Pakistan, Police, Quran

Mentally impaired Yaqoob Bashir Masih was only 20 years old when he was accused of committing blasphemy in June 2015. He has been in prison ever since, and now his hometown District and Sessions Court in Mirpur Khas, a small district in Pakistan’s Sindh province, has sentenced him to life-long . . . Read More

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