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Fine

• Appeal Scheduled for Pastor Youssef Ourahmane

  

  Pastor Youssef Ourahmane serves as the vice president of the Église Protestante d'Algérie (EPA). Following a three-day gathering with a few Christian families in March 2023, he was charged with organizing an unauthorized religious assembly. In September, the pastor was sentenced to two years in prison, along with a fine. During an appeal hearing in November, the court ruled to uphold the verdict, but reduced the Christian leader's sentence to one year.

• Church Leader Loses Appeal

  

  Pastor Youssef Ourahmane is a senior pastor who oversees a number of churches and Bible schools in Algeria, in addition to serving as the vice president of the Église Protestante d'Algérie (EPA) – an association composed of more than 45 Protestant churches.

• Church Leaders Detained in Raid

  

  On the morning of November 9th, Elder Li Yingqiang – along with a few other church leaders from the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, Sichuan Province – were visiting a new church that had been established in Dazhou, which is about 400 kilometres away. There, the believers of the two churches worshipped together, held a baptismal service and shared communion. However, this special service was abruptly interrupted when police from multiple departments forcefully entered the building.

• Christian Threatened With Prosecution for Sharing Faith

  

  On June 1st, Vladimir Burshtyn was detained because he had been sharing his Christian faith on the streets of Drogichin, Belarus. The elderly man received a $300 fine for his actions. (For further details on this incident, go to this report.) However, this was not the first time Vladimir was punished for practising his faith. He was previously fined in 2005 for leading an unregistered congregation, and again in 2008 for sharing his faith publicly.

• Christian Man Fined for Sharing His Faith

  

  On June 1st, a musical group of Baptist believers arranged a performance on the streets of Drogichin in southwestern Belarus. In addition to providing uplifting music, the Christians shared their faith with those who passed by. One of the evangelists, Vladimir Burshtyn, is a Christian man in his early 70s. He travelled 110 kilometres from his home in order to participate in the meeting.

• Seven Young Christians Fined

  

  A court in Minsk has fined seven young Christians the equivalent of two months' average wages each. The charges were laid against the believers as punishment for talking to others about the meaning of Easter on April 15th, the day before Orthodox Easter Sunday.

• Imprisonment Nearing Completion for Detained Christians

  

  In January 2020, Pastor An Yankui and Zhang Chenghao, along with five other Christians, travelled from China to attend a conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The conference speaker was highly critical of the Chinese Communist Party, which led to multiple arrests of all seven believers who were subsequently charged for "illegally crossing the national border" (see this page).

• Christian Education Facilities Face Closure

  

  In recent months, seminaries in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, have been raided and forced to close by officials who claim that the Christian schools are illegal. On August 8th, the Wenzhou Bowen Bible School and the Wenzhou Bible School were both raided. These raids followed an official announcement which was issued to the seminaries three days before. The claim is that the schools were organizing events without government authorization and had not registered their activities with officials.

• Ongoing Harassment in Russian-Occupied Territories

  

  As Russian forces continue their invasion of Ukraine, referenda have been held in regions of the country presently occupied by Russian soldiers. Widely dismissed as a "scam," the referenda seek to demonstrate that the people of these regions want to join Russia. The alleged votes would then render any action by the Ukrainian military in these areas an "invasion" of Russian territory.

• Increased Challenges for House Churches

  

  Recent raids on house churches in China have raised concerns, for these incidents could signify a shift in governmental policy – possibly connected to the upcoming presidential election. It's estimated that about 80 percent of the persecution presently taking place in China is being directed towards unauthorized house churches. To learn more about the repeated harassment committed by authorities against China's Christians, go to our country report.