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Hardline Muslims Kill Evangelist at Open-Air Event
East Africa Correspondent |
Morning Star News |
Tuesday, March 8, 2022
Uganda on the Map, Hardline Muslims kill evangelist at open-air event. ChristianHeadlines.com
NAIROBI, Kenya, March 8, 2022 (Morning Star News) – Hardline Muslims who grew furious at the preaching of a speaker at an open-air evangelistic event last week in eastern Uganda beat him to death and burned his body, sources said.
John Michael Okero was quoting verses from the Koran about Christ on Feb. 28 in Kadungulu village, Serere District when a Muslim identified only as Shakuuru grabbed the microphone from him. He and other Muslims started beating Okero as they accused him of blaspheming Allah by saying that he has a Son, misinterpreting the Koran, touching the Koran without ritual cleansing and disrespecting it by placing it under the Bible, an area source told Morning Star News by phone.
They beat him to death with iron bars, stones and sticks and later burned his body to a chant in the Ateso language referring to a thief who steals people from one religion to join a bad religion, the source said. Okero was 43.
Police were called but arrived after the assailants had fled, the source said. Officers began a manhunt.
Okero, a resident of Kapaala village, Palissa District, was frequently invited to preach at evangelistic events in predominantly Muslim Kadungulu village by a denomination undisclosed for security reasons.
The assault was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.
Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.
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ISIS appoints new leader
The terrorist group confirms death of previous leader in US raid on Syria
Terrorist group Islamic State has confirmed the death of its previous leader Abu Ibrahim Al-hashemi Al-Quraishi, announcing the similarly-named Abu Al-Hassan Al-hashemi Al-Quraishi as his replacement on Thursday.
A spokesman from the group confirmed the previous leader’s death and announced the new leader over ISIS’ al-Furqan Media, though the name had already been circulating unofficially on social media in the preceding month.
The previous Al-Quraishi reportedly blew himself and his family up during a raid by US special forces in northwestern Syria last month.
Since his wife and children went with him, how will he handle the 72 virgins?
According to a senior unnamed US official, Quraishi detonated the bomb at the start of the operation, leaving at least 13 people dead in the “clashes and explosions” that ensued, according to Syrian rescue workers. However, there were no US casualties, and US President Joe Biden called the raid successful.
The now-deceased Quraishi had led the wannabe caliphate since the death of previous leader and founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who died in a similar manner during a US raid in 2019. While former president Donald Trump declared victory over the group, it had periodically surfaced to stage attacks in Syria and Iraq in the intervening years, and an Afghan splinter group called ISIS-K set off a bomb in the last days of the US presence in Kabul, killing hundreds.
ISIS-K also claimed responsibility for a mosque bombing in Pakistan leaving dozens dead.
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Update: 12 Mar 2022 - 10 year travel ban to be enforced!
Raif Badawi freed from Saudi prison
Quebec family jubilant after 10-year fight to free Saudi blogger jailed
for promoting liberal views on Islam
CBC News ·
Posted: Mar 11, 2022 12:15 PM ET
Ensaf Haidar, wife of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, shared hugs with friends and supporters in front of city hall in Sherbrooke, Que. on March 11, 2022, the day he was released after 10 years in prison. (Radio-Canada)
The Quebec family of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has confirmed he has been released from Saudi prison, 10 years after he was jailed for criticizing religious figures and promoting liberal views of Islam.
"After 10 years in prison, Raif is free!" Ensaf Haidar, Badawi's wife, tweeted, Friday.
As the news spread, Haidar was met Friday afternoon by cheering supporters holding signs bearing her husband's photo, and she shared a few tearful hugs outside city hall in Sherbrooke, Que., where she lives with her three children.
"I am at a loss for words," Haidar said, in an interview with Radio-Canada. "I would like to find the words, but I am just happy."
"He is, I don't know how many kilometres away, but the important thing is that Raif is free," she said.
Haidar has been fighting for her husband's release for the past decade. She received a call this morning from Badawi, as he was signing his release papers.
"He is doing well. Even he doesn't know what to say," she said. "It's still a surprise for us, but a good surprise."
She said two of her children were home when she received his call.
"[They said] 'Mom is it true? Is it true?' Their responses were really touching," Haidar said.
"We were jumping everywhere we were running in the house," said the couple's daughter, 18-year-old Najwa Badawi. "It's a weight off our shoulders."
Release conditions unclear
Badawi's family had been anticipating his release, as his 10-year sentence had been served in full as of Feb. 28.
Following his arrest in 2012, Badawi was also sentenced to 1,000 lashes and a fine of 1 million Saudi Arabian riyal, or about $340,000 Cdn.
Update: He was also sentenced to a 10 year travel ban to begin upon his release from prison. A Saudi Interior Ministry spokesperson indicated today that that travel ban will be enforced unless Badawi is issued a royal pardon.
Badawi's case made international headlines when he was whipped 50 times in public, and the remainder of the lashings were suspended following international outcry.
Haidar said she does not yet know the conditions of Badawi's release.
Collette Lelièvre, a campaigner with Amnesty International Canada who has worked on Badawi's case for most of the last decade, said the organization is continuing to call for the lifting of the travel ban imposed on Badawi by the Saudi government, so he can join his family in Canada.
This is great news, now if they can get him out of Saudi Arabia and into Canada, that would be fantastic.
In Sherbrooke, Que., where Raif Badawi's wife and three children live, supporters hold posters with the Saudi blogger's picture and play drums to celebrate his release from prison. (Radio-Canada)
The organization has planned a demonstration in Montreal for next Tuesday, to support Badawi and to call for more vocal action from the Canadian government.
"Now is the time to push," she said. "If we work for Raif, we also work for other human rights defenders and other political opponents [in Saudi Arabia].
She praised Haidar for her tireless work to secure her husband's freedom.
"She has done so many things! Spoken to conferences, demos, travelled around the world to arrive to this point," Lelièvre said.
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