News and Reports

Nay Blang – Vietnam

Published on: August 17, 2024

BACKGROUND SUMMARY Nay Blang, 48, from the eastern coastal province of Phu Yen, is a member of the Ede ethnic group in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. He is a member of the Central Highlands Evangelical Church of Christ (CHECC) which the Vietnamese government refuses to recognize as a legitimate religious organization, rather considering it a “reactionary” […]

Hakop Gochumyan – Iran

Published on: January 15, 2024

BACKGROUND SUMMARY In the summer of 2023, Hakop Gochumyan, an Armenian citizen, and his wife Elisa, a dual Iranian-Armenian citizen, were on vacation in Iran visiting Elisa’s extended family. Their two children, ages 7 and 10, were with the couple. On the evening of August 15, as Hakop and Elisa visited friends in a suburb […]

Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo – Cuba

Published on: November 16, 2023

BACKGROUND SUMMARY Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo entered into fulltime ministry in 2001, first with the Open Bible denomination, then in 2009 as leader of the Monte de Sion Independent Church in Palma Soriano. His congregation, numbering between 80 to 100 people, met in his home. On July 11, 2021, Fajardo, along with his son and […]

Pastor Zafar Bhatti-Pakistan

Published on: November 10, 2023

BACKGROUND SUMMARY Pastor Zafar Bhatti has been imprisoned in Adiala Central Jail in Rawalpindi, Punjab Province, since 2012. He was arrested after Ahmed Khan, deputy secretary of the local branch of the Islamic organisation Jamat Ahle-Sunnat, filed a police report stating he had received text messages from an unknown number insulting the prophet Mohammed’s mother. […]

Haile Naigzhe-Eritrea

Published on: November 9, 2023

BACKGROUND SUMMARY In 2002, the Eritrean government shut down and banned all religious groups except the Orthodox, Catholic, and Lutheran churches, as well as Sunni Islam. As a result of the government’s action, banned churches were forced to go underground. Eritrean officials then responded by undertaking a campaign to locate the underground churches and […]

Kiflu Gebremeskel-Eritrea

Published on: November 9, 2023

BACKGROUND SUMMARY Dr. Kiflu Gebremeskel was the founder and senior pastor of Southwest Full Gospel Church and a member of the executive committee of the Full Gospel Church of Eritrea. The Full Gospel Church of Eritrea is one of the country’s largest Pentecostal networks which comprises about 150 house church groups. Kiflu has a Ph.D. […]

Chang Hao-China

Published on: November 9, 2023

BACKGROUND SUMMARY Chang Hao is a rural house church leader from Zhaotong, Yunnan province. He has been very active in social justice issues in his local community, organizing prayer meetings and supporting persecuted churches. Local authorities have summoned Pastor Chang on multiple occasions to question him about his activities. This year he was arrested on […]

Shagufta Kiran-Pakistan

Published on: November 9, 2023

BACKGROUND SUMMARY Shagufta, a nurse by profession, was part of a WhatsApp group called ‘Pure Discussion’ for Christian teachers and preachers. In 2020, members of an extremist Muslim group joined ‘Pure Discussion’ and collected what they deemed to be “blasphemous material.” They then submitted the messages to the authorities by filing an information report with […]

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