ICC Note: 

December marks one year since three Sudanese Pastors and a Czech Christian aid worker have been  jailed in Khartoum. Sudan now follows Sharia law and has grown hostile to Christians who are a minority group in the east African country.  Despite many international appeals both from government and religious organizations, the trial of the four Christian prisoners continue to move at a slow pace as hearings get rescheduled and non existent evidence requested to prove them “Enemies of the State”. 

12/21/2016 Sudan (Morning Star News) – Officials in Sudan are delaying a verdict in the trial of two pastors and two others because evidence is insufficient for conviction and they do not want to release them, sources told Morning Star News.

The Rev. Kwa (also transliterated Kuwa) Shamaal, head of Missions of the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC), and the Rev. Hassan Abdelrahim Tawor were arrested from their homes on Dec. 18, 2015. They are charged with crimes, some punishable by death, that range from spying to inciting hatred against the government.

The case has been marked by postponements and judges who were said to be out of the country when court hearings were scheduled, according to advocacy groups. One Khartoum church leader, unnamed for security reasons, told Morning Star News the government is delaying the acquittal and release of the two pastors and two others due to Islamist pressures within the country.

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