Persecution News Roundup

There are several news items that are either worth mentioning or that I had missed previously so I'll discuss all of them in one post.

In Egypt, Mohammed Beshoy Hegazy, a convert from Islam to Christianity is still in hiding. He is famous, or infamous, for being the first Egyptian convert to seek official recognition of his conversion. I reported on his fight to get his religion changed from Islam to Christianity here.

He had to go into hiding after several clerics called for his death in the Egyptian media when his case was announced earlier this year.

In Turkey, a 17th century church has been wrecked and nearly demolished:-

A XVII century chapel dedicated to Our Lord’s Transfiguration, which lies in front of the Haliki School of Theology, was almost completely destroyed yesterday by Forest Guards. The Church had been recently restored with the permission of local authorities. Demolishers had begun tearing down the building without any prior warning, which is called for in such cases.

Only at the last minute was the total destruction of the chapel avoided: following protests by the prior of Haliki School and Metropolitan Meliton, director of the Ecumenical Patriarchates office for legal affairs, the prefect of the Prince Islands stopped the Forest Guards. The building however was seriously damaged.

The Prior of Halki immediately brought to the attention of the Turkish authorities that these kinds of episodes will provoke international disapproval, including that of the European Union. The Authorities response was stark: “Don’t dare to threaten us!”.

What are "forest guards"? Shouldn't they be in a forest rather than demolishing buildings in a city. Is it normal in Turkey to pull down 17th century buildings, with or without notice?

In my blog entry here on the Malatya murder trial, I quoted Isa Karatas, spokesperson for the Alliance of Protestant Churches in Turkey:-

“It is clear from these statements of the suspects that there is some group of powerful influence behind them,”

While he was unwilling to name names, I can confidently say that it is Islamists who are trying to create an atmosphere of hate and distrust towards Christians in Turkey.

Finally, in Indonesia:-

About 30 self-appointed Islamic vigilantes are alleged to have raided a house suspected to be a Christian place of worship in Citeureup Village of Bandung in the Indonesian province of West Java, on Monday.

The owner of the house, Ranto Gunawan Simamora, told reporters that dozens of people raided the house and went directly to the living room which is normally used for Christian gatherings and worship.

No-one was injured in the raid and the police have sealed off the house while they carry out further investigation.

The attack is the latest aimed against so-called illegal places of worship in Java and beyond.

Once again we see extremist elements of the Muslim population who feel duty-bound to persecute members of another religion.