Today, July 2, in Khartoum, the judge presiding over the trial of the Reverends Yat Michael Ruot and Peter Yen Reith decided that the case against the two pastors from the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church will continue. Their lawyers must contest all of the charges against them. The time for action for Christians in Sudan is NOW.
Two of the charges against Pastor Michael, 49, and Pastor Peter, 36, carry the death penalty or life in prison if they are found guilty. This in spite of the fact that no “witnesses” brought by the prosecution against the two have been able to offer any new evidence against the pastors.
According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the next hearing, at which the defense will present its case, will take place on July 14. The charges against the pastors include: criminal conspiracy (Article 21 of the Sudanese Penal Code); undermining the constitutional system (Article 50); espionage (Article 53); disclosure and receipt of official information or documents (Article 55); promoting hatred among sects (Article 64); breach of public peace (Article 69); and offenses relating to insulting religious beliefs (Article 125).
Originally it was reported that the pastors, who are both married, with young children, were charged with “waging war against the State (Article 51). This was incorrect, and was clarified by World Watch Monitor on July 2. Both Article 50 and Article 53 of the Sudanese Penal Code are death penalty offenses.
Save Sudan Pastors Campaign
As we reported on June 30, a new campaign has been launched to enable caring individuals to be advocates for Pastor Michael and Pastor Peter right now.
On the Save Sudan Pastors website, you can sign a letter to Sudan President (and indicted war criminal) Omar al Bashir asking that the pastors be released. The letter also requests that the basic human rights of all Christians in Sudan be respected.
By simply filling in your name and address you can send the letter to Bashir, copied to other Sudanese officials; to President Obama, Secretary Kerry, US Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Booth, and other U.S. officials; to the International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and other international officials; and to media personalities Nick Kristof of the New York Times and Greta Van Susteren of Fox News — both of whom have shown great concern for the people of Sudan and South Sudan. Please take a moment and do this now! Also continue to pray for the pastors.
The Save Sudan Pastors website also includes graphics, like the one below, that you may wish to download to share on your website or social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Khartoum Emboldened
The Khartoum regime has become more and more emboldened. More and more churches are being targeted for destruction, and pastors and other Christians arrested. On July 1, Mr. Mohaned Mustafa, the chief counsel for Pastor Michael and Pastor Peter (also part of the legal defense team for Meriam Ibrahim) was also arrested, along with Pastor Hafez of Bahri Evangelical Church in Khartoum North, the church at which Pastor Michael had been detained. Mustafa and Hafez were arrested for obstructing a public servant during the course of his duty when they attempted to advise a government agent that he was destroying the wrong section of the church compound. This is part of an ongoing land dispute between the government and the church which has left the church in ruins.
In another blatant show of harassment, twelve young Christian women were arrested on June 25 by Sudan’s Public Order Police as they were leaving a celebration at the El Izba Baptist Church in Khartoum. The girls, who were wearing skirts and trousers, were charged with “public indecency” and taken to the police station where they were forced to remove their clothing because it was “evidence.” More about this story in a future post.
One reason for the boldness of the Islamists in Sudan is that the regime continues to prosecute with impunity genocidal war against its own people in Darfur, Blue Nile State, and the Nuba Mountains. Additionally, the Sudanese government sees the United States government and the world community acting helpless in the face of ISIS atrocities and seemingly indifferent to the suffering of Christians.
Increase the Pressure — and the Prayer — Now!
At the same time, the Islamist Republic remains very sensitive to international, and particularly U.S., criticism. It has begun a new “charm offensive” — aided by naive, useful American pastors and others — in aid of getting the U.S. to lift terrorist sanctions. If caring individuals continue to raise a huge outcry against the unjust treatment of these pastors, Khartoum may consider the trial against the pastors to be not worth the bad public relations.
After you sign the letter to President Bashir, please share broadly the pastors’ story and continue to pray:
- That the judge’s heart will be “like channels of water in the hand of the LORD” (Proverbs 21: 1)
- That God will bring liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners (Isaiah 61: 1)
- That the situation will change for Christians and other marginalized people groups throughout Sudan.
Use a memory aid to remind you to pray. For instance, use traffic STOP signs to remind you to ask God to stop the persecution of Christians in Sudan.
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