By BosNewsLife Africa Service

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Ethiopian evangelical Christians face growing persecution, experts say.

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (BosNewsLife)– A Christian evangelist remained behind bars in an Ethiopian prison Wednesday, June 26,nearly three months after he was detained on trumped-up charges of “terrorism and treason” because of his Christian faith and activities, rights activists said.

Alemayehu Legese was reportedly arrested in late March in the city of Dodola, some 290 kilometers (180 miles) south of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

He was taken into police custody after admitting to owning literature that “discussed the history of Islam from a Christian perspective,” said advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC), which closely followed the case.

Legese, a student at Dodola Mekane Yesus Bible School, had dropped the literature off at a copy shop, according to Christians familiar with the situation.

“A Muslim employee subsequently contacted authorities to demand Legese face consequences for violating the widespread cultural belief that Christians, being inferior citizens, are morally insufficient to learn the history of Islam,” ICC told BosNewsLife.

EVANGELISTIC NATURE

Additionally “Legese was also known for his outwardly evangelistic nature,” the advocacy group said. “It is believed that because of this, as well as the fact that he coordinated faith-based activities for youths at his local church, Legese was made a target for arrest and ultimately arbitrarily detained.”

In court, Legese’s lawyer objected to the charges of both terrorism and treason, and as a result, the court ordered public prosecutors to modify their charges against Legese, trial observers said.

However, “The prosecution has yet to do so. Until the prosecution submits new charges against Legese, he will continue to sit in jail, awaiting charges that may take years to be submitted,” ICC warned.

“I think the evangelist is arrested to discourage other Christians from teaching [the Gospel of Jesus Christ] in the area…” a Christian legal expert said in remarks distributed by ICC.

“All the government officials in the area are Muslims and this has created a big problem [for the Christians],” the expert added, speaking on condition of anonymity amid security concerns.

“GROWING PERSECUTION”

ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, William Stark, told BosNewsLife that the detention underscored “growing persecution of [devoted] believers in the Muslim-dominated areas of Ethiopia.”

He warned that the public prosecutor charges against Legese of “terrorism and treason” were “an alarming development, as it indicates the manner in which Islamic radicals have infiltrated the justice system in the country.” ICC said it had urged its American supporters to the Ethiopian Embassy either by phone at (202) 364-1200 or email at ethiopia@ethiopianembassy.org “to demand the immediate freedom for Legese.”

Ethiopian officials did not comment. It remained unclear whether Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, a Protestant Christian, would intervene.  He became acting prime minister in September 2012, ending a period of uncertainty following the death of long-term leader Meles Zenawi, and was to stay in the post till new elections in 2015.

Local Christians have said that despite the political changes, especially evangelical believers have been suffering in the country. Since 1960, the percentage of evangelical believers has grown from 0.8 percent to nearly 20 percent of the country’s roughly 85 million population, according to Operation World, a respected book with prayer information.

Ethiopian Christians have reportedly attributed the growth to a period of fierce persecution under a Marxist regime known as the Dergue. Formed after a 1974 coup that deposed Emperor Haile Selassie,the Dergue was led by Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam, who repressed religious freedom until 1991, when another coup forced his ouster, according to experts.

(BosNewsLife, the first truly independent news agency covering persecuted Christians, is ‘Breaking the News for Compassionate Professionals’ since 2004). 

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5 COMMENTS

  1. How ignorant are you all? Ethiopia has been a Christian nation (Orthodox, the real Christianity) for nearly 2000 years. We accepted Christianity as a state religion in the 3rd century A.D., and the first monastery was built in the first century. What we do not agree with are you guys, evangelists, using the name of our holy faith to essentially earn profits and exploit people, both in America and abroad. Do not come to our countries, do not even apply for a Visa, if your purpose is to “convert” people that were Christian when your ancestors were worshipping trees and stones. God help you, you delusional freaks.

  2. Stop trying to give yourseves a raison d’etre because you lead meaningless lives at home. Ethiopia is Christian, always has been and always will be, and WE DO NOT need you and your fake perversion of a faith for it. We are ORTHODOX (meaning ‘original’ in greek) christians. Ethiopian muslims and Christians live in harmony and peace together and have done so for nearly 1300 years. Muslims only constitute 40 % of the population. Read a book for the love of the Almighty and you might learn something. Do not ever step foot in the proud Christian nation of Ethiopia if your mission is to lead people astray from Orthodox Christianity

  3. Orthodox Christian myself and I see some folks posing as Christians propagating hateful messages. We should condemn the mistreatment of religious groups: Orthodox, Evangelical and Muslim, etc. The Orthodox Christians complain similarly in Muslim dominated areas and the Muslims have complains in Christian dominated areas. This is pure ignorance in whichever angle you look at it. No God wants us to be the judge and make other human beings to suffer (of course unless you are the member of al Qaeda).

  4. A word is enough for a wise. Those of you, wolves in the skin of ship, keep your preaching in your boundaries. We precisely know what you are interested in. Did we invite you? Why did you step in some one’s house uninvited? Shame!

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