pastor – Law Enforcement, Military, and Terrorism News

Prosecution Drops Charges and Allows Pastor to Return Home after Seven-Month Detention

On Tuesday, the International Christian Concern (ICC) has reported that Pastor Bryan Nerren, an American pastor detained in India since October 2019, is now free to return home to his family in the United States.

This news brings to an end a seven-month legal ordeal that began with Pastor Nerren being falsely accused of violating India’s Foreign Exchange Management Act.

According to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the charges against Pastor Nerren were dropped, and the prosecution withdrew its case on Friday, May 15.

The judge overseeing Pastor Nerren’s case lifted the travel ban that has kept Pastor Nerren in India since October 2019, allowing him to return to the United States and reunite with his family.

On October 5, 2019, Pastor Nerren and two other pastors from Tennessee arrived in India to attend conferences in India and Nepal. The ACLJ reported that Pastor Nerren was targeted and arrested by Indian customs agents after he told them he was a Christian.

When the three pastors arrived in New Delhi, Pastor Nerren was detained by customs agents while proceeding through the domestic security check for a flight to Bagdogra.

According to the ACLJ, Pastor Nerren was carrying funds to cover the expenses of two conferences and the two-week trip for himself and the other pastors.

Customs agents questioned Pastor Nerren about the funds and their usage for about an hour.

According to the ACLJ, customs agents specifically asked Pastor Nerren if he was a Christian and if the funds would be used to support Christian causes.

After fully explaining the usage of the funds, the customs agents told Pastor Nerren that he was free to go. However, when Pastor Nerren arrived in Bagdogra, he was arrested for violating India’s Foreign Exchange Management Act and transported to Siliguri, where he was incarcerated for six days and not allowed any visitors, including visitors from the US Consulate.

Pastor Nerren was able to secure bail after six days in jail. However, the judge overseeing his case retained Pastor Nerren’s passport and ordered a travel ban on the American pastor.

Until the charges against him were dropped last Friday, Pastor Nerren was effectively trapped in Siliguri.

Religious intolerance and instances of persecution have steadily escalated in India since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a political party founded on a Hindu nationalist ideology, took power in 2014.

According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), 147 instances of religiously motivated violence against Christians were documented in 2014.

In 2019, after five years of BJP rule, EFI recorded 366 instances of religiously motivated violence against Christians.

William Stark, ICC’s Regional Manager for South Asia, said, “We here at International Christian Concern are happy to see that the false charges against Pastor Nerren dropped and that he is free to return home to his family. What is most concerning about Pastor Nerren’s case is how customs officials targeted him after he told them he is a Christian. No one should be targeted for any abuse because of their religious identity, especially in India. According to Article 25 of India’s constitution, individuals are free to profess, practice, and propagate their choice of religion. It seems that this constitutional protection was not given to Pastor Nerren. Instead, he was forced to endure seven months of detention in India because he identified himself as a Christian.”

For interviews, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org

Persecution.org (May 2020) American Pastor Detained in India Finally Freed

House Church Pastor Arrested for Refusing to Join State-Vetted Church

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a house church pastor in China’s Hunan province was arrested on April 2, after being criminally detained since March 14 for “inciting subversion of state power.”

On April 11, Bethel Church sent out an urgent prayer request for its pastor, Zhao Huaiguo, asking for nationwide prayers for its pastor who was arrested on April 2 on subversion charges.

Automotive Best Sellers

Zhao, the founder of Bethel Church in Cili county, has served at his church for 13 years, cultivating many leaders among the several hundred members. The church refused to join the state-vetted Three-Self church and was banned last year by the government.

According to China Aid, a local Christian shared that the authorities have been hostile toward Pastor Zhao since his church refused to join the state-sanctioned church and rejected government officials’ intervention. “He was accused of proselytizing and distributing Gospel tracts, which were considered illegal acts. After Lunar New Year last year, the religious bureau forced the church to disperse, to which it refused. The official ban arrived last April,” said the local Christian.

On April 10, 2019, nearly 50 people from the local authorities raided Bethel Church, damaging church property and confiscating Bibles, a piano, and hymn books. Pastor Zhao and other members were questioned and warned.

A Bethel Church member told China Aid that from March to December 2019, the public security police have repeatedly harassed the church, taking its preachers in for investigation and forcing them to sign an agreement that they would not preach or hold any more religious activities.

Following Zhao’s arrest, the authorities have been investigating the church’s offering and its sources, in an effort to find proof to accuse Pastor Zhao. Yet, since the church members refused to provide information, the police have made little progress thus far.

Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, said, “For the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to slap the charge of ‘inciting subversion of state power’ on Pastor Zhao, typically used against human rights lawyers and activists, it shows how the regime is fearful of anybody who is disobedient to the CCP. The laws in China now have become tools for the government to silence and weaken its citizens’ influence, even in a religious setting. The lack of rule of law in China should gravely concern the international community.”

Persecution.org (April 2020) Chinese Pastor Charged with Subversion of State Power