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Christian women from Southern Sudan |
One of the main topics of negotiation in the peace talks in Sudan has been the implementation of sharia law for non-Muslims. An April 28 news release from Compass Direct reports that a young Christian woman in the capital city of Khartoum was beaten and fined for not wearing appropriate head covering.
Cecilia John Holland was traveling on a transit bus on the evening of April 13 when ten public-order policemen stopped the bus and arrested her. When she protested that she was a Christian and from the south, she was struck in the neck and forced into a van with other women deemed to be dressed inappropriately. The next day she was taken to the Sizana Islamic Court where she was not allowed to speak in her defense. She was found guilty and sentenced to 40 lashes fined 10,000 Sudanese dinars ($50 Cdn).
The Khartoum government claims that the issue of sharia law in Khartoum and other primarily Muslim areas of northern Sudan has been resolved; that the southern leadership (the SPLM) have agreed to a single Islamic law in the north. This claim has been denied by an SPLM spokesman.
Pray that the peace talks in Sudan will succeed and that both sides will be willing to negotiate in good faith. Pray for Cecilia and other Christians living in northern Sudan, as they face the challenges of an imposed sharia law.
For more information on Sudan, click here. The Voice of the Martyrs has been actively ministering to Christians in Sudan for several years. Last January, as part of the mission's annual Operation Christmas Blessing, VOM carried out a major distribution of school packets for students in eastern Sudan. To view a brand new video report of the project go to our multimedia site, PersecutionTV (click here).
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