17th September, 2015
A church in the Sudanese capital of Sudan has had a victory in a long-running battle over the ownership of its property, with a court reportedly ruling that Government-imposed committees – imposed in order to enable Muslim investors to take over the building – were illegal.
Morning Star News says sources have said that late last month the Administrative Court of Appeal had ruled that the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments had interfered with church matters.
The ruling is the latest chapter in a four-year fight by the Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church, part of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC), which has seen members subjected to arrest and its property demolished as the congregation objected to the takeover.
Two pastors – Rev Yat Michael and Rev Peter Yein Reith – were charged with capital crimes and spent six months in prison over their support for the congregation before their release in early August on time served following their conviction on lesser offences. Morning Star News reports that they and their families have since relocated to a third country to protect them from Islamist retaliation.
Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church and SPEC leaders told the news organisation they consider the court ruling a step in the right direction toward ending all attempts to hand over their property to Muslim investors.
“Things are working well for us; thank God for all your prayers for the church,” said SPEC treasurer George Adam.
Rev Yahya Abdelrahim Nalu, a senior SPEC leader, described the ruling as a great victory for the church.
Morning Star News said while church leaders said the ruling – which nullifies three committees the Islamist government imposed on the church – was final it was unclear whether the Sudanese Government would try and appeal.
In its seven-page decision, the court described the actions of the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment as illegal and mere interference in SPEC affairs. “The ministry has no right to interfere into the matters of SPEC,” it reportedly said.
The court cited the fact that SPEC has its own constitution and leadership structure to govern its activities, and that no entity should interfere in its internal affairs.
Whether there would be reparations for demolitions that took place in the church compound based on government-secured court orders remained unclear. Riot police seized the property by force in February, and in November, last year, a bulldozer accompanied by security personnel and police knocked down a wall of the church and houses in the church compound. Christians formed a human barrier to face down further demolition attempts later that month, 2014. One of the homes destroyed in the compound belonged to Nile Theological College; a Christian doctor had rented it, and he lost all his belongings, sources said.
Meanwhile, Morning Star News reported that on 2nd December last year, police in North Khartoum “beat and arrested” 38 Christians from the church and fined most of them. They were released later that night.
A year earlier – on 5th October, 2013 – police and security forces broke through the church fence, beat and arrested Christians in the compound and asserted parts of the property belonged to a Muslim investor accompanying them.\
As Muslims nearby shouted, “Allahu Akbar (God is greater),” plainclothes police and personnel from NISS broke onto the property aboard a truck and two Land Cruisers. After beating several Christians who were in the compound, they arrested some of them; they were all released later that day.
– DAVID ADAMS (with Morning Star News)
