ATHENS, Greece – An evangelical Christian radio station in Athens, Greece, has been closed and a retired pastor who helped run it was jailed overnight, a religious freedom organization has reported.
Human Rights Without Frontiers, based in Brussels, Belgium, said Dec. 14 that Channel Station 2000 was raided by police earlier in the month. HRWF also said that Lakis Regas, the 73-year-old retired pastor who worked as a technician, was held overnight.
“We have been operating and proclaiming the Good News of Christ for 11 years without any problem,” station director Thanos Karbonis was quoted as telling Compass, an evangelical news service. “Channel Station 2000 is very fruitful. It has brought many people to Christ.”
HRWF reported that the station has been charged with “disturbing the frequencies” of nearby naval facilities. A court date was set for Jan. 31.
In 1994, Greece shut down the nation’s only evangelical television station. Evangelical sources blame the closures on the politically powerful Greek Orthodox Church. There are about 17,000 Protestants in Greece, mainly evangelicals and Pentecostals.
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