Worthy Christian News » Christian Persecution » Christian Persecution - Africa » Sudan » Court Rules Sudan Gov't Interfered with Church

Court Rules Sudan Gov't Interfered with Church

By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) - Last month a court ruled that the committees imposed upon a Khartoum church by the Islamist government of Sudan were illegal.

According to Morning Star News, Sudan's Administrative Court of Appeal ruled that the country's Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments had interfered with the internal affairs of the Bahri Evangelical Church by aiding an attempted takeover of its leadership by Muslim investors intent upon seizing its land.

The court concluded that since Bahri Evangelical had its own leadership under its own constitution, no outside entity had the right to interfere in the church's internal decision making.

For years, the Bahi congregation had been subjected to harassment by the state as it resisted the government-assisted takeover. Reverends Yat Michael and Peter Yein Reith were both jailed and charged with capital crimes over their support for the Bahi congregation, but were instead convicted of lesser charges and then released on time served.

Due to its treatment of Christians, Sudan has been designated as a Country of Particular Concern since 1999 by the U.S. State Department.