21st September, 2015
A Protestant pastor has been stabbed to death in Laos in an attack believed to have been carried out because of his Christian faith, according to a rights group.
Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) said local Christians had ruled out robbery as a possible motivation for the “ruthless and cold-blooded murder” of Pastor Singkeaw Wongkongpheng on 8th September.
“They believe that his death was the direct result of his Christian faith and ministry of spreading that faith,” the group said in a statement on their website.
Pastor Singkeaw, a father of six, was stabbed to death late on the evening of 8th September after five men, one of whom is alleged to have been a police officer, broke into his home.
HRWLRF said Pastor Singkeaw, pastor of the Na-ang Church in Luang Prabang Province, had ignored government orders not to spread the Christian faith as far back as the late 1990s and had founded his church in 2000 when Christians in the area in which it is based was facing a period of significant persecution. He had ignored a similar order given to him only a couple of years ago.
HRWLRF has called on authorities in Laos to investigate his death and urged them to respect the right of the Lao people to religious freedom.
Only a few per cent of Laos’ population are reported to be Christians.
– DAVID ADAMS