Name: Mubarak Bala Country/Area of Origin: Nigeria Background: Mubarak Bala is the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria. Formerly a chemical engineer and Muslim, in 2014, Bala renounced Islam and became an atheist. Bala’s family was extremely critical of this conversion, and his father had him arrested and eventually put into a psychiatric institution …
Name: Raymond Koh Country/Area of Origin: Malaysia Background: Pastor Raymond Koh is a Christian pastor of Evangelical Free Church and has been on the receiving end of some threats before: in 2011, he was accused of evangelism and had received a death threat. Reason for Arrest: CCTV recordings revealed that Pastor Raymond Koh was abducted …
Name: Leah Sharibu Age: 16 Country/Area of Origin: Nigeria Incident: On February 19, 2018, a separate faction of Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), abduced 110 schoolgirls from Government Girls Science and Technical College. Five of the girls were killed during the kidnapping, and 104 were returned safely to their homes. However, Leah …
Name: Qin Defu (also known as Qin Derfu) Age: 37 Country/Area of Origin: Sichuan Province, China Background: Qin Defu’s father was a preacher, and in 1989, Qin adopted Christianity and participated in the Three Self Patriotic Movement for many years before leaving the Movement and focusing instead on the house-church system, becoming a member of …
Name: Shagufta Kausar (F) and Shafqat Emmanuel (M) Country/Area of Origin: Pakistan Background: Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel are a Pakistani Christian couple who, prior to their arrest, lived with their four young children in a Christian community in Gojra, Punjab. Shagufta has been the sole breadwinner of the family since her husband Shafqat became …
Name: Youcef Nadarkhani Country/Area of Origin: Iran Background: Though born into a Muslim family, Pastor Nadarkhani converted to Christianity at the age of 19. Nadarkhani is an active member of the Evangelical Church of Iran and is a pastor at his home, where he leads church services. Reason for Arrest: Pastor Nadarkhani was originally arrested …
Name: Mary Mohammadi Age: 21 Country/Area of Origin: Iran Background: Christian convert Reason for Arrest: In January 2020 Mary was arrested for her participation in Tehran protests against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran’s attack on a Ukrainian passenger flight, leading to the untimely deaths of approximately 175 individuals. Upon her arrest, Mary was …
Name: Farhad Fahandezh Country/Area of Origin: Iran Age: 60 Background: Farhad is a Baha’i practitioner and member of a Baha’i administrative group called “Yaran-e-Iran” Reason for Arrest: On October 17, 2012, Farhad Fahandezh was arrested at his home in Gorgan, Iran for his involvement in the Baha’i faith and administrative organizations. He was held without …
Name: Mohammad Reza Omidi Country/Area of Origin: Islamic Republic of Iran Background: Omidi is an Iranian Christian convert who, alongside three other Christian men, have been leading the “Church of Iran” since Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani’s most recent arrest in July 2017. Reason for Arrest: Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence arrested Omidi and three other church leaders …
In June, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom released an update on religious freedom conditions in Vietnam, with special focus on religious prisoners of conscience among the Hoa Hao Buddhists, Christians, and Catholics, who are detained for a multitude of reasons including failure to register religious activities under the strict Law on Belief …
