American, Korean Christians ‘Treated As Criminals,’ ‘Kept in a Miserable Condition’ In Nepal
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Three Christians have been arrested in Nepal since June, all on charges of “attempting to convert.”
Bradley Navarro Anagaran, an American, was arrested on June 23rd for possessing discipleship literature sources said was for use only in a church context, and both he and local pastor Hira Singh Sunar were imprisoned for 11 days “in a miserable condition,” according to Religious Liberty Forum Nepal (RLFN).
“The court procedures in Nepal take several years and are tiresome,” Tanka Subedi, chair of the RLFN, told Morning Star News of Anagaran’s dilemma, in which he must stand trial in Nepal after returning to the United States. “I personally don’t know how he will be able to do that, as it is a great financial burden to travel every time for his court date from the United States to Nepal.”
In early August, 73-year-old Korean national Cho Yusang was also released on bail after spending 15 days in prison conditions that led to a deterioration of his health for reportedly distributing Christian leaflets and possessing a trove of Bibles, yielding a medical bill that put a dent in his already modest finances, according to Subedi.
Nepal introduced an “anti-conversion” law in 2017, and upped the prison sentence for proselytizing from 3 years to 5 in 2018, putting Christian evangelists in jeopardy in a country that has risen to 32nd on Open Doors USA’s World Watch List in recent years.
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