10th July, 2015
Five Christians were imprisoned by local authorities in the Mexican village of Tzetelton because they had converted to Protestantism, according to UK-based persecuted church advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
In a statement, CSW said the group, who included a man, a woman and three girls, were later transferred to a prison in the municipal capital of San Juan Chamula. The three girls were subsequently released after it was discovered they were underage but CSW stated that Luis Herrera, director of the Coordination of Christians Organisations, said they had since been abandoned by their families.
Mr Herrera told CSW that the man and woman – Andres Lopez and Virginia Lopez – remain in prison "in cells which open directly onto the street, without any protection from the cold or bad weather". A decision on their fate was expected to be handed down yesterday.
Mr Herrera also said that in arresting the five, village officials had cited an old community agreement that stated converts to Protestantism had to pay a fine of 5000 pesos ($US316) which also said that if it could not be paid they could be subjected to forced labour and expelled from the community. Andres Lopez had been told he would be fined the full amount while Virginia Lopez had only been fined half the amount because she was a widow. They are also being charged an additional 2,000 pesos ($US126) to cover costs incurred in transporting them to the prison in San Juan Chamula.
Mervyn Thomas, CSW’s chief executive, said he was disturbed to hear of the "arbitrary detention" of the Protestants "simply because of their religious beliefs". Calling it a "flagrant violation" of the Mexican Constitution, he said the organisation was "very concerned" at the failure of the Chiapas State Government to respond to "these kinds of violations".
Mr Thomas called on Governor Velasco Coello to "take strong measures" to ensure the basic rights of civilians, including that to freedom of religion or belief, and the Mexican Constitution is upheld, saying that if was unable or unwilling to do so, "we call upon the Federal Government to take action to preserve the rule of law in Chiapas as a matter of urgency".
– DAVID ADAMS
