ICC Note: The South Sudanese government continues to harass and intimidate Christians for disagreeing with their Islamic regime. Several cases have been reported where Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) targets and incarcerates Christian citizens because they are deemed as undesirable for exposing government oppression. On December of 2015, two pastors were arrested and falsely accused of espionage, waging war against the state, and delivering false new about Christian persecution. Both pastors are still going through trial and will face the death penalty if convicted.

9/30/2016, South Sudan (Morning Star News) – Christian workers imprisoned under charges related to tarnishing Sudan’s image are innocent, but their arrests serve the Sudanese government as a warning to others against criticizing the Islamist regime, sources said.

Foreign diplomats and international rights activists have taken notice of the case since Morning Star News in December 2015 broke the story of the arrest of two pastors that month. As part of a recent upsurge in harassment of Christians, Sudan accuses the Sudanese pastors and a foreign aid worker of “waging war against the state” and “spying” in the course of allegedly gathering information on persecution of Christians and on bombing civilians in the Nuba Mountains.

Prosecutors in Sudan this week presented flimsy evidence against the two pastors and the Czech medical-aid worker charged with crimes calling for the death penalty, a defense attorney told Morning Star News.

Prosecutors on Monday (Sept. 26) called on officials of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) to present as evidence a video said to be taken from the computer of Czech aid worker Petr Jasek showing a foreigner talking with civilians from the Nuba Mountains area of South Kordofan, where an insurgency is fighting government forces, the attorney said.

“The prosecution presented a video whose content has nothing to do with the case against Jasek – it only showed a foreigner talking to some people in South Kordofan,” he said. “For certain, this shows a NISS policy to intimidate others into refraining from criticizing the government.”

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