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Two men convicted of aiding Czech Christian ‘spy’ released in Sudan

World Watch Monitor (with DAVID ADAMS)

Two Sudanese men who were jailed with the Czech aid worker, Petr Jasek, were released from prison in Khartoum on Thursday after a presidential pardon.

Abdumonem Abdumawla and Rev Hassan Abduraheem Taour were arrested in December, 2015, for “aiding and abetting” Jasek in his alleged ‘spying’. In January this year all three men were convicted of “inciting hatred between sects” and “propagating false news” and sentenced to a total of 12 years imprisonment.

On 26th February, Mr Jasek received a presidential pardon and left Sudan. Following the release of Mr Jasek, supporters said there were no longer reasons for keeping the two in prison.

Jan Figel, the EU Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the EU, during a visit in March called for a presidential pardon to be extended to the other two men as well.

Religious freedom advocacy Christian Solidarity Worldwide welcomed the release of the men. But chief executive Mervyn Thomas said their case highlighted his “profound concerns regarding the rule of law in Sudan and the politicisation of the criminal justice system by the National Intelligence and Security Services, which pursued the case against them”.

“We continue to call for the government to review and reform the powers of this body and to end the targeting of religious and ethnic minorities on spurious grounds,” he said.

CSW noted that the release of the men comes at a time when government pressure is increasing on ethnic and religious minorities in Sudan and pointed to the demolition, earlier this month, of the last remaining church in the Soba Arabi district of Khartoum – it belonged to the Sudan Church of Christ (SCOC) denomination – as an example.

“The demolition of the SCOC church in Soba Aradi underscores the pressures Christians are facing in Sudan,” Mr Thomas said. “We urge the government to review the current demolition orders to ensure they comply with Sudan’s domestic and international human rights obligations. We also call on the African Union, European Union, and United Kingdom to encourage the Sudanese government to protect the right to freedom of religion or belief for all of its citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs.”

 

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