ஈரானில் முஸ்லிம்களால் துன்புறுத்தப்படும் கிறிஸ்தவர்கள்

ஈரானில் அதிகமான முஸ்லீம்கள் இயேசுகிறிஸ்துவை ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளுகிறார்கள்.இதை பொருக்க முடியாத முஸ்லிம்களால் துன்புறுத்தப்படும் கிறிஸ்தவர்கள் எண்ணிக்கை இப்பொழுது அதிகமாகி வருகிறது.

Iran Authorities Whipping Christian Couple For "Apostasy", Investigators Report

By BosNewsLife News Center

TEHRAN, IRAN (BosNewsLife) -- An Iranian Christian couple have been punished by whipping for "apostasy" from Islam in a case that has underscored concerns about widespread persecution of Christians in Iran, a well-informed advocacy group said Tuesday, November 6.

Barnabas Fund, which has close ties with reportedly persecuted Christians in predominantly Muslim nations, told BosNewsLife that "six officials", most likely of the feared religious police, visited the couple's home in September to carry out the punishment. Their names were not released, apparently because of security concerns.

"The husband is indeed a former Muslim, who became a Christian many years ago, but the wife was born into an Assyrian Christian family and has never been a Muslim," Barnabas Fund explained.

It said charges against them were linked to their marriage seven years ago. The couple married under Islamic Law because they apparently could not find a church willing to marry them because of their different backgrounds. The Justice Court of Revolution said that "when non-Muslims marry under Islamic law they are considered to have converted to Islam.

PRACTISING CHRISTIANS

"They allegedly violated that principle because "in reality they are convinced and practising Christians," Barnabas Fund explained. In September 2005, "the couple were among a group of Christians who were arrested while meeting for worship in a home in a town north-west of Tehran," Barnabas Fund said.

In July this year the couple's case came to court where they apparently admitted they were Christians. "Because the law considered them Muslim, this led to the court's ruling that they were both apostates from Islam, and hence the brutal punishment."

These are no isolated cases, BosNewsLife learned. Despite the dangers, Iranian Christians staying outside the country plan to return, BosNewsLife learned. The Iranian Church Netherlands said last week it plans to train 4,000 Iranian Christians who fled their country to return to Iran to preach the Gospel.

There are an estimated 40,000 Iranian exiles living in the Netherlands. (With reporting by BosNewsLife's Eric Leijenaar and Stefan J. Bos).

Copyright 2007 BosNewsLife. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without our prior written consent.

துருக்கியில் இஸ்லாமிய பயங்கரவாதிகளால் கொல்லப்படும் கிறிஸ்தவர்கள்

3 கிறிஸ்துவ மிஷனரிகளை கொன்ற துருக்கர்கள் மீது விசாரணை

துருக்கியில் கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் மீதான வன்முறை அதிகரிப்பதால், ஏராளமான துருக்கி கிறிஸ்துவர்கள் துருக்கியிலிருந்து வெளியேறிவருகிறார்கள்
Turks in Christian murder trial

Many Christians moved out of Malatya after the murders
The trial has started in eastern Turkey of five men accused of killing three Christians earlier this year.
The Christians, who included a pastor and a German missionary, were stabbed repeatedly and had their throats cut.

The suspects, aged 19 and 20, were detained at the scene of the crime, a Protestant publishing house in Malatya.

The trial was adjourned after defence lawyers argued they needed more time to prepare. The hearing is now expected to resume in mid-January.

Turkey is a candidate for EU membership. The bloc has asked Ankara to protect the human rights of the country's ethnic and religious minorities, as a precondition for membership.

Germany has accused Turkey of "unacceptable intolerance" towards non-Muslims.

The murders prompted three Christian families to leave Malatya, in eastern Turkey.

The attack came months after the killing of the ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and a year after the killing of a Catholic priest in northern Turkey.

In all cases, the alleged killers were nationalist-minded young men or even teenagers.

Turkish nationalists often view missionaries as a threat, especially in remote places like Malatya, says the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul.

Life sentences

In Malatya, the defendants reportedly told police they were acting to foil a plot to undermine Islam and divide Turkey.


The three victims were found bound by hand and foot

The killings were condemned by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The five suspects face three life sentences each, while two others are charged with membership of a terrorist organisation.


A lawyer acting for the victims' families earlier said he was concerned by the tone of the indictment against the accused.

More than half the 31 files in the indictment focus on the missionary work of the men murdered. They include contact details of people they approached.

The lawyer believes that will help those accused plead provocation.

The town's Protestant community now numbers only about two dozen people.

There are only around 100,000 Christians left in Turkey - less than 1% of the population.