Displaying items by tag: arrests

In 1989, the longest human chain in history (675 kilometres) was formed from north Estonia across Latvia to south Lithuania, as a moral protest against the illegal occupation of those lands by the Soviet Union. Thirty years later, thousands of protesters formed an unauthorised but peaceful human chain across Hong Kong in a movement against the erosion of liberties under Chinese rule. On 29 August, at 3 am, Hong Kong became alarmed as Chinese troops, armoured personnel carriers and trucks poured into the city in what Beijing called 'routine' troop rotation. China has made it clear recently that it considers a military intervention in the crisis a viable option, despite US warnings that this might lead to a repeat of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. On 30 August, three prominent protesters were arrested. See

Journalist and church deacon of Early Rain Covenant Church, Zhang Guoqing, was missing for several days before it was discovered he was being held in police custody for ‘provoking trouble’. He had published a story of how the pastor’s mother, Chen Yaxue, had been beaten up by a policeman, and how one officer had grabbed her hair and kicked her. Also, eight Christian families from the same church were evicted from their homes and two fired from their jobs, after police pressured landlords and employers. Twelve Christians are currently being held in criminal detention, and one is missing. Pray for them all, asking the LORD to be a shield of protection around them (Psalm 3:3). Pray for the Lord’s provision for those who have lost their homes and jobs. Ask also for mental and physical healing for Chen Yaxue, after the cruel police assault.

This month Eritrean police have arrested 32 Christians in the capital, Asmara, including a newlywed couple and ten of their guests. Eritrea’s human rights record was recently condemned at the UN Human Rights Council. A UN monitoring group said thousands of Christians are facing detention, as ‘religious freedom in Eritrea continues to be denied’. The council also heard that Eritrea’s claims of improvement in the human rights were unfounded. In 2002 Eritrea introduced a law prohibiting Christian practice outside the Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran denominations, and Sunni Islam.

Police arrested senior members of the Turkish Medical Association, and President Erdogan branded them ‘terrorist lovers’. The association, which represents 80,000 doctors, publicly voiced opposition to the offensive against Syrian Kurdish militia, warning: ‘Every clash, every war, causes physical, psychological, social and environmental health problems, and human tragedy.’ After publishing their statement they were inundated with threats of violence via telephone, email and social media. The New York-based Physicians for Human Rights group condemned the intimidation campaign. ‘It is a bleak commentary on the state of affairs in Turkey that a group of doctors can’t make a peaceful statement without being targeted with physical threats and condemned by the head of state’, said Dr Homer Venters. ‘Medical professionals must have the freedom to call out threats to public health without fear of retribution.’

A boy of 17 is the sixth person to have been arrested in connection with the London Underground bomb at Parsons Green on 15 September. He was detained at a 'halfway house' for asylum- seekers, following police counter-terror operations in Dover, Hounslow and Newport. He is the youngest of the suspects being questioned over a homemade bomb blast that failed to detonate fully but still injured thirty people on a packed train during morning rush hour. IS claimed the attack was carried out by ‘soldiers of the caliphate’. The head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command said, ‘This continues to be a fast-moving investigation. A significant amount of activity has taken place, and searches are continuing at five addresses. Detectives are carrying out extensive inquiries to determine the full facts behind the attack.’