NEPAL: Eight Christians Acquitted

Source: Christian Solidarity Worldwide, December 6, 2016

[Eight Christian leaders] were arrested in June this year. The group was held in police custody for nine days and poorly treated in prison. Before being released on bail, local police officials charged them with attempting to convert children to Christianity through distributing a comic book which explains the story of Jesus.

The charges are thought to be the first in Nepal’s history in which Article 26 (3) of the newly promulgated constitution was quoted, which states that “No person shall, in the exercise of the right conferred by this Article … convert another person from one religion to another, or any act or conduct that may jeopardize others’ religion and such act shall be punishable by law.”

The arrests took place following two trauma counseling sessions organized by Teach Nepal, a Kathmandu-based non-governmental organization (NGO), at two schools in Charikot. At the end of the sessions, the organizers distributed a small gift pack to the children, which included a 23-page Christian comic book.

The final hearing in the case was postponed four times this year before it was held on December 6, and the court delivered an oral verdict dropping all charges and calling for the bail money to be returned to the eight Christians. The written verdict is expected within a month.

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» Please pray for a US pastor jailed in Turkey on terrorism charges and for Compassion International, which runs a child-sponsorship program in India in danger of being closed down under new government restrictions.

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