Medical aid worker Petr Jasek. (The Voice of the Martyrs)

 
Medical aid worker Petr Jasek. (The Voice of the Martyrs)

  JUBA, South Sudan (Morning  Star News) – Sudan released Czech aid worker Petr Jasek on Saturday  (Feb. 25), nearly one month after a court in Khartoum sentenced him to  life in prison for espionage and other charges, according to reports.
 Jasek  returned to the Czech Republic on Sunday with Czech Foreign Minister  Lubomir Zaoralekj, who had arrived earlier to secure his release. Sudan  President Omar al-Bashir reportedly ordered the court to release the aid  worker based on Sudan’s Article 208, which gives the president powers  to release anyone convicted of crimes that do not carry death penalty.
 Christian leaders in Sudan confirmed the release of the Czech aid worker.
 “Yes, he was released on Saturday,” a Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) leader said.
 The Czech Foreign Ministry had reportedly stated that the Jan. 29 conviction and sentencing of Jasek was without basis, and that he was in Sudan only to help Christians.
 “In  early February the Czech and Sudanese governments agreed that the Czech  foreign minister would visit Sudan on 26th February, and that Petr  would then be released into his care and return to the Czech Republic  with him,” according to Middle East Concern.
 Along with the life  sentence for espionage and waging war against the state, Jasek was also  sentenced to six months in prison for spreading false rumors undermining  the authority of the state (“spreading false news aimed at tarnishing  the image of Sudan”) and a fine of 100,000 Sudanese pounds (US$16,000)  for working for a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Sudan without a  permit. He was also sentenced to one year in prison each for inciting  strife between communities, entry in and photography of military areas  and equipment and illegal entry into Sudan.
 Two Sudanese  Christians remain behind bars, though they were convicted of “aiding and  abetting” Jasek’s alleged espionage and sentenced to 12 years in  prison. It was not clear whether Sudan would consider releasing the two  Church leaders. Their cases are awaiting appeal.
 The court in  Khartoum convicted the Rev. Hassan Abdelrahim Tawor and Abdulmonem  Abdumawla of Darfur for assisting Jasek in the alleged espionage,  causing hatred among communities and spreading false information, a  defense attorney said. They received 10-year sentences for  espionage-related charges, and two years of prison for “inciting hatred  between sects” and “propagation of false news.” The sentences are to be  served consecutively.
 Pastor Tawor of the SCOC was arrested from  his home on Dec. 18, 2015, as was the Rev. Kwa (also transliterated  Kuwa) Shamaal, head of Missions of the SCOC. Pastor Shamaal was acquitted on Jan. 2 of charges ranging from spying to inciting hatred against the government.
 Abdumawla  was arrested in December 2015 after he began collecting money to help a  friend, Ali Omer, who had needed treatment for burns suffered in a  student demonstration. Abdumawla contacted Pastor Tawor, who donated  money for Omer’s treatment, which reportedly raised the ire of Sudanese  authorities.
 Authorities also were said to have found Jasek also  had given money for Omer’s medical costs, but prosecutors accused Jasek  of donating it to rebel groups.
 Prosecutors had charged Jasek,  also arrested in December 2015, with “tarnishing Sudan’s image” by  documenting persecution. At one hearing, an official with Sudan’s  notorious National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) accused the  defendants of conducting “hostile activities against the state that  threaten the national and social security” in Sudan.
 Foreign diplomats and international rights activists took notice of the case after Morning Star News broke the story of the arrest of two pastors in December 2015. Their arrest was seen as part of a recent upsurge in harassment of Christians.
 Most  SCOC members have roots among the ethnic Nuba in the Nuba Mountains of  Sudan’s South Kordofan state, where the government is fighting an  insurgency. The Nuba along with other Christians in Sudan face  discrimination, as Al-Bashir has vowed to introduce a stricter version  of sharia (Islamic law) and recognize only Islamic culture and Arabic language.
 Harassment,  arrests and persecution of Christians have intensified since the  secession of South Sudan in July 2011. The Sudanese Minister of Guidance  and Endowments announced in April 2013 that no new licenses would be  granted for building new churches in Sudan, citing a decrease in the  South Sudanese population.
 Sudan since 2012 has expelled foreign  Christians and bulldozed church buildings on the pretext that they  belonged to South Sudanese. Besides raiding Christian bookstores and  arresting Christians, authorities threatened to kill South Sudanese  Christians who do not leave or cooperate with them in their effort to  find other Christians.
 Sudan fought a civil war with the south  Sudanese from 1983 to 2005, and in June 2011, shortly before the  secession of South Sudan the following month, the government began  fighting a rebel group in the Nuba Mountains that has its roots in South  Sudan.
 Due to its treatment of Christians and other human rights  violations, Sudan has been designated a Country of Particular Concern by  the U.S. State Department since 1999, and the U.S. Commission on  International Religious Freedom recommended the country remain on the  list in its 2016 report.
 Sudan ranked fifth on Christian support  organization Open Doors’ 2017 World Watch List of countries where  Christians face most persecution