Tag: Seventh-day Adventists

Eritrea: mental health challenges for Christian man freed after 13 years in prison

January 16, 2018 Eritrea Asmara, Barentu, Eritrea, Eritrean Orthodox Church, Prisons, Religious freedom, Seventh-day Adventists

Eritrea remains “one of the worst examples of state-sponsored repression of freedom of religion or belief in the world”, says USCIRF Commissioner. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Shiden* was young and full of optimism for the future when he was imprisoned for his Christian faith. For the next 13 years he was exposed to torture of different kinds, including months in a very small cell in solitary confinement, and even his eventual release failed to bring about . . . Read More

Turkmenistan’s secret additions to already restrictive Religion Law

May 18, 2017 Turkmenistan Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Islamic extremism, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, Turkmenistan

It’s been over a year since the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan added further restrictions to its Religion Law, but the changes were introduced in such secrecy that few knew about them until well after the event. It wasn’t until January this year that regional news agency Forum 18 shed . . . Read More

US missionary appeals to European Court of Human Rights over Russian law

March 29, 2017 Russia Don Ossewaarde, Oryol, Pentecostals, Russia, Seventh-day Adventists, Yarovaya Law

UPDATE (29 March 2017) Today, Donald Ossewaarde filed an application to the European Court of Human Rights. The US Baptist preacher argues his right to religious freedom has been violated. Mr. Ossewaarde had held weekly Bible meetings at his home in the Russian city of Oryol, 300 kilometres south of Moscow, . . . Read More

Islamic extremism causing fresh concerns in the Philippines

February 27, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Islamic State, Manila, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Rodrigo Duterte, Seventh-day Adventists, Southeast Asia

Christians in the Philippines are concerned at a rise in Islamic extremism in the country. A local church leader, who wished to remain anonymous, told World Watch Monitor about a recent meeting of around 3,000 Islamists on one island – the name of which he wouldn’t say, for fear of . . . Read More

Pakistani church leader and family hospitalised over house dispute

October 28, 2016 Pakistan Farooqabad, Lahore, Seventh-day Adventists, Sheikhupura

A Seventh-day Adventist church leader and his family were attacked over a dispute about the ownership of their property. Pictured is the church leader’s father, Robert Hussain, in hospital.World Watch Monitor A Pakistani church leader has described how his family were hospitalised by a mob of more than 50 . . . Read More

Russia: Church reacts as ‘anti-missionary bill’ becomes law

July 15, 2016 Russia Exile, House churches, Jehovah's Witnesses, Missionaries, Moscow, Pentecostals, Russia, Seventh-day Adventists, Soviet Union, Vladimir Putin, Yarovaya Law

On 7 July, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill referred to by one Christian organisation as an “anti-missionary bill”. The new law, known more commonly as the “Yarovaya” law (the name of one of its authors), which will come into effect on 20 July, was formally introduced . . . Read More

2 years’ labour for Kazakh Christian

January 6, 2016 Kazakhstan Astana, Baptists, Churches, Kazakhstan, Seventh-day Adventists, Yklas Kabduakasov

A Kazakh Christian has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at a labour camp, after an initial seven-year sentence of restricted freedom at home went to an appeal. Yklas Kabduakasov, 54, a Seventh-day Adventist, was convicted of inciting religious hatred while talking to others about his faith. He and his . . . Read More

Kazakh Christian could face 10 years in jail

October 14, 2015 Kazakhstan Astana, Central Asia, Islamic extremism, Kazakhstan, Seventh-day Adventists, Yklas Kabduakasov

A Seventh-day Adventist in Kazakhstan could face between five and 10 years in prison if convicted of “spreading religious discord”. Yklas Kabduakasov, 54, was arrested in August, after a year of police surveillance and the secret filming of a conversation between him and four Muslim students. His trial began in . . . Read More

Police rescue Pakistani Christian from ‘mob justice’ over blasphemy

July 3, 2015 Pakistan Blasphemy, Faisalabad, Farooqabad, Lahore, Quran, Seventh-day Adventists

Rukhsana and other family members were beaten and had their faces blackened by an angry mob, June 2015World Watch Monitor A Christian father of four was beaten, had his head shaved, his face blackened, and was dragged through his Pakistan village before he was rescued by police June 30. . . . Read More

Indian Christian man forced to separate from Hindu wife by right-wing activists

October 3, 2014 India Barack Obama, BJP, Gujarat, Narendra Modi, Seventh-day Adventists, Uttar Pradesh

Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat state, at a BJP rally in 2009.Flickr / Al Jazeera English / Creative Commons An Indian couple who married Sept. 26 had their marriage annulled five days later by police under pressure from Hindu nationalists. The couple, Joseph Pawar and Ayushi Wani, were . . . Read More

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