Christian workers imprisoned under charges related to tarnishing Sudan’s image are innocent, it was said in court in late September, but their arrests serve the Sudanese Government as a warning to others against criticising the Islamist regime.
As part of a recent upsurge in harassment of Christians, Sudan accused two Sudanese pastors, arrested in 2015, and a foreign aid worker of ‘waging war against the state’ and spying in the course of allegedly gathering information on persecution of Christians and on bombing of civilians in the Nuba Mountains.
Prosecutors in Sudan presented flimsy evidence against the two pastors and the Czech medical-aid worker charged with crimes calling for the death penalty. They are accused of conducting intelligence activities and providing material support for Nuba rebels in South Kordofan under two charges that carry the death penalty – waging war against the state (Article 51 of the Sudanese Criminal Code) and spying (Article 53).
