OMDURMAN, South Sudan — An Islamist judge in Sudan upheld the eviction of two pastors from their church-owned homes while 60 other Christians have been summoned to court over their refusal to relinquish property, sources said.
On Dec. 3, 2017, a judge rejected an appeal of the eviction of Yahia Abdelrahim Nalu, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) moderator, and Sidiq Abdalla, a SPEC pastor, from their homes. The judge ruled that Muslim businessman Hisham Hamad Al-Neel should take over the houses.
The two pastors and their families remain homeless since police raided their houses Aug. 15, 2017, and evicted them. Abdalla has two children, ages 8 and 10, and Nalu has a 1-year-old boy.
More than 60 church leaders are facing charges in various courts in Khartoum for refusal to hand over church lands and estates to Al-Neel, sources said. On Nov. 28, 2017, a group of 25 SPEC leaders appeared in a court in Omdurman after Al-Neel accused them of refusing to hand over church property he claimed to own, they said.
Harassment, arrests and persecution of Christians have intensified since the secession of South Sudan in July 2011. No new licenses have been granted for building new churches in Sudan since 2013 and church buildings have been bulldozed.
Sudan ranked fifth on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2017 World Watch List of countries where Christians face most persecution. (MS)
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