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Concerns Over Jailed Iranian Christians Amid Political Turmoil
WORTHY NEWS
By Stefan
TEHRAN, IRAN (Worthy News)– As the world focuses on the political turmoil in Iran, two detained Christian women are “in danger of being forgotten” amid concerns they may face execution, Iranian Christians said Tuesday, July 7.
Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, and Maryam Rustampoor, 27, have been held for over four months in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison apparently for converting to Christianity from Islam.
Iranian Christians and rights investigators said the two young women, who were arrested March 5, suffered sleep deprivation as part of police interrogations and were held in solitary confinement for three weeks in May and early June.
Later, they were put together in one small cell for about two weeks before being moved to a larger area to make place for other inmates as many protesters were detained following last month’s disputed presidential elections, said Christians with close knowledge about the situation.
About 600 women were reportedly brought to Evin prison during the protests.
After international pressure, the Iranian Government’s Parliamentary Committee reportedly removed articles stipulating the death penalty for apostasy from the Islamic Penal Code Bill, but the changes have to be approved by legislators.
NEWS ALERT: Pakistan Christian Families In Hiding After Violence
WORTHY NEWS
By Jawad Mazhar, Worthy News Special Correspondent reporting from Pakistan
BAHMANI, PAKISTAN (Worthy News)– Christian families in a volatile area of Pakistan’s Punjab province were in hiding Saturday, July 4, after angry Muslim mobs burned and attacked hundreds of Christian homes and churches, injuring over a dozen people, including women and children, witnesses said.
Rights investigators were on their way to the village of Bahmani in Punjab’s Kasur District, where most of this week’s violence took place, officials told Worthy News and its partner agency BosNewsLife.
The violence, which began July 1, “left several Christian critically injured including children and women at Bahmani village,” explained Joseph Francis, the national director of Christian rights and advocacy group Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement’ (CLAAS).
Francis said that he and his team hired two mini-vans “to ferry injured Christians from Bahmani village to a CLAAS rehabilitation center. “So far nine women and four children have been shifted for medical treatment,” he told Worthy News.
Francis alleged that the women and children “sustained critical burns because they were attacked with acid.” Some were “drenched in acid” he said, without providing more details.
“LOOTED AND VANDALIZED”
He said some 100 churches and homes were torched while 200 other Christian homes were “looted and vandalized”.
The violence reportedly began after a Muslim cleric allegedly accused Christians of blasphemous teachings against Islam and Prophet Muhammad, making announcements in a local mosque’s loudspeaker.
Police forces soon arrived but were unable to rescue injured Christians or control the enraged mob comprising of thousands of fundamentalist Muslims, witnesses said.
A tense calm was reported Saturday, July 4. Francis said rights groups arrived at the scene want to pressure authorities to prosecute suspects. Police have so far been reluctant to take action, rights groups said.
There was no immediate comment from police officials. The latest violence comes amid growing concerns about reports of Islamic extremism and attacks against Christians in Pakistan.
Did Michael Jackson repent, accept Christ?
FROM WND
Pop idol reached out to Gospel star Andrae Crouch before death
Gospel superstar Andrae Crouch and his twin sister, Sandra, confirm meeting with Michael Jackson and praying and singing with him weeks before his death.
Jackson, raised as a member of the Jehovah’s Witness sect and reportedly a convert to Islam last year, sought out the Crouches for inspiration for his upcoming tour, for which he was unprepared, according to a report in Assist News Service.
But while some blogs have reported that meeting led to a spiritual conversion by Jackson, the Crouches say they are not certain.
“Not sure where that came from,” said Sandra Crouch on her Facebook page. “We loved and respected Michael and will continue to pray for his family. All the extra is not from us.”
A spokesman for the Crouches had this to add: “Andrae and Sandra did in fact visit with Michael Jackson two times, once at the recording studio, and once at his home in the last two months, as recently as three weeks ago, asking for prayer concerning the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and how he could make his music more ‘spiritual.’ So Andrae and Sandra explained to him about the anointing and about Jesus. He wanted to know what makes your hands go up, and makes you ‘come out of yourself,’ and what gives a ‘spirituality’ to the music? He then requested to hear his favorite song that he loves and wanted the(m) to sing to him, so they … joined hands and sang together, and he said, ‘It was beautiful.’ He first heard it in New York, and loved it and wanted it on tape. He had the engineer tape the song sang to him by Andrae and Sandra. He definitely had an encounter with them.”
Was there evidence of a conversion?
The Crouch spokesman said: “He did NOT reject Jesus or the prayer when (we) prayed, and gladly joined in prayer. He usually doesn’t touch anybody, but he touched them, and held their hands in a circle as they sang and prayed. There was NO actual ‘sinners prayer’ however, but they did talk and pray about Jesus and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. They also told him, ‘Michael, we consider you as our son,’ and he said, ‘Yes, yes, yes’ and gave him his latest music on a CD, and he told him, ‘Andrae I trust you with this,’ and gave him CDs of 2 songs … unpublished, beautiful music.”
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