Life Sentence in Sudan for Czech Missionary

Nuba and Darfuri Colleagues Also Sentenced After US Lifted Some Sanctions on Sudan

On Sunday, January 29, in a Khartoum court, Czech aid worker Petr Jasek was sentenced to life in prison because he raised and provided money for the medical treatment of a young Darfuri. Ali Omer had been burned severely in a student protest.

According to Morning Star News, the court identified Jasek’s ‘crime’ as “espionage and waging war against the state.” Morning Star News also said that Jasek was charged with “spreading false news aimed at tarnishing the image of Sudan. . . working for a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Sudan without a permit. . . inciting strife between communities, entry in and photography of military areas and equipment, and illegal entry into Sudan.”

Also on Sunday, Jasek’s colleagues that had worked with him to provide care for Omer received sentences for their alleged crimes. Morning Star News learned from its Sudan correspondent that the Reverend Hassan Abdelrahim Tawor, a Nuba pastor in the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) and Abdulmonem Abdumawla, a Darfuri convert, were convicted for “assisting Jasek in the alleged espionage, causing hatred among communities and spreading false information.” They were both sentenced to 12 years in prison. Defense attorney Muhanad Nur said that the defense plans to file an appeal for all three.

The Czech Republic government is also raising the issue, sending a deputy foreign minister to fight for Jasek’s release. If necessary, says Morning Star News, they will send the Foreign Minister himself.  Jasek was only in Sudan “to help Christians,” says the Czech Foreign Ministry.

The three had all been arrested in December 2015, along with another Nuba pastor, the Reverend Kuwa Shamaal, the Head of Missions, SCOC. Shamaal was acquitted of the charges against him on January 2, 2017 and released, but Jasek, Tawor, and Abdumawla remained in prison. Morning Star News adds:

Abdumawla, who initially said he was Muslim but later admitted he was Christian . . . contacted Pastor Tawor, who donated money for Omer’s treatment, which apparently raised the ire of Sudanese authorities, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
 
Authorities also were said to have found Jasek had given money for Omer’s medical costs, but prosecutors accused Jasek of donating it to rebel groups.
 
Prosecutors had charged Jasek . . . with “tarnishing Sudan’s image” by documenting persecution. At one hearing, an official with Sudan’s notorious National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) accused the defendants of conducting “hostile activities against the state that threaten the national and social security” in Sudan.

There is not an American citizen being imprisoned and persecuted by the Islamist regime in Khartoum. . . this time. (Remember that our Sudanese Christian sister Meriam Ibrahim, sentenced to death for apostasy, is married to Daniel Wani, a South Sudanese American citizen, but it took much pressure from the world community to kick start any advocacy by the United States government on Meriam’s behalf.) So why should the United States feel any responsibility for this matter?

Other than because of our strong belief in religious freedom, justice, and the moral responsibility enshrined in our foreign policy that has long been a hallmark of America, there is the troublesome little fact that in his last week in office President Barack Obama lifted some of the sanctions we have had in place on Sudan. Nothing says “green light” like lifting sanctions. Especially when now-departed U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power made the breathtaking declaration that Sudan is showing “a sea change” in allowing humanitarian access! Don’t know what sea Power’s boat is floating on.

Then there is the recent commentary from our Sudan/South Sudan Special Envoy Ambassador Booth. Booth gave moral equivalence to the Islamist jihadist regime of Khartoum that, among other egregious behaviors, is committing genocide in the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile State, and Darfur, and the “rebels,” the SPLA-North and other groups that are the only line of defense between the victims and the perpetrators of genocide.

The misrepresentation of the Khartoum regime (“they’re not so bad!”) and rebel groups (“they’re not so good!”) has signaled to the regime that they can get away with murder — and with life imprisonment of Christians. The partial lifting of sanctions is unacceptable in the midst of such appalling actions as:

• The continued persecution of the churches in Sudan
• Supporting the South Sudanese “rebels” causing devastation all over the nation of South Sudan
• Pretending to offer assistance in the War on Terrorism while providing training and support for the Islamic State, al Shabaab, Boko Haram, Hamas, and just about every jihadist group imaginable.

President Trump and his administration must realize that lifting of sanctions on the current terrorist Sudan regime and all of its hangers-on from years’ past (like Sadiq al Mahdi, the faux opposition) is unacceptable.  When the 93% of Sudan’s population that have been marginalized, persecuted, and oppressed by Khartoum — the people of Nubia, Beja land, Nuba Mountains, Darfur, and the Blue Nile get the say in the governance and leadership of their nation, regions of Sudan now under genocide are at peace, and Christians and others have freedom of religion, terrorism sanctions can finally be lifted. That will be the true “sea change.”

What can you do now? Pray for Petr, Hassan, and Abdulmonem, for their attorneys, for appeals, for change in the government of Sudan. Contact your member of Congress and Senators, as well as the State Department, and ask for them to speak out on this issue. Also call these same government officials and demand that NO SUDAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL be permitted to come to the United States for the National Prayer Breakfast.