— Today’s Zaman reports:
— “The family did not report her as missing to any authorities, telling other villagers that they had ‘left the incident to God.'”
— “The prosecution charges in its indictment that the murder was an honor killing and that pressures related to the woman’s interactions with men in the conservative village had led her male relatives to kill her.”
— “The prosecution examined the woman’s cell phone records and found that her last call was to her boyfriend, H.K.”
— “He told the prosecution that the day Kilic supposedly got ‘lost,’ she had called him. ‘Her voice seemed very tense. She said she was at home — it was as if she was afraid someone would see her talking on the phone. She was in a hurry, she suggested we elope and said ‘otherwise they’ll kill me.'”
Palestinians Remember Murdered Christian Bookstore Leader — BOSNEWS Reports:
— “Palestinian Christians on Tuesday, October 7, urged prayers as they observed the second anniversary of the day that militants murdered the director of the only known Christian bookstore in the Gaza Strip.”
— “Rami Ayyad, 32, was discovered stabbed and shot to death in a street of Gaza City, the territory’s main city, on October 7, 2007. The killing death came six months after his Teacher’s Bookshop of the Palestinian Bible Society was blown up by militants.”
Rami Ayyad, 32, was discovered stabbed and shot to death in a street of Gaza City.
— see also Elam report
— see also FREETHEMM report
— ICC reports: “Washington, D.C. (October 08, 2009) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on October 7 an Iranian judge charged Maryam and Marzieh with ‘crimes’ of apostasy and propagation of the Christian faith. They could face life imprisonment if convicted of apostasy.”
— “Elam ministries told ICC that Maryam and Marzieh were unexpectedly taken to appear before the court yesterday morning.”
— “In a positive development, their case has now been transferred from the revolutionary court to the regular courts after the judge dropped the earlier charge of anti-state activities. Maryam, Marzieh and their lawyer are pleased with this development.”
— “Maryam and Marzieh were detained on March 5, 2009. The Iranian officials accused them of ‘anti-state activities’ following their conversion from Islam to Christianity. During their appearance before the revolutionary court on August 9, they told the court that they would not recant their faith in Christ.”
— “Iranian officials sent Maryam and Marzieh to the infamous Evin prison where they have endured mistreatment, including solitary confinement and deprivation of medical attention. Both of them are in poor health. On October 4, Maryam suffered severe food poisoning and was given medical attention after much insistence.”
— “In an interview with the Voice of America Persian News Network, Maryam and Marzieh’s lawyer said, ‘My clients are not prepared to lie about their faith under any condition.'”
— “ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa and the Middle East, Jonathan Racho, said, ‘We welcome the move by the Iranian court to drop the charges of anti-state activities against Maryam and Marzieh. We urge Iranian officials to drop charges of apostasy and propagation of Christianity, as well. As party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran has an obligation to respect the right of Maryam and Marzieh to follow the religion of their choice.'”
California: White supremacist was leader of death squad, says prosecution — Orange County Register reports: “An Orange County prosecutor told a jury Wednesday that a heavily tattooed white supremacist was the leader of a death squad who executed a gang member for violating gang code by divulging secrets in a television interview.”
— “Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh said defendant Billy Joe Johnson, 46, showed a ‘complete and utter disregard for human life’ when he led Scott Miller, one of the founders of the Public Enemy Number One gang, to his death in an Anaheim alley on March 8, 2002.”
Louisiana: Aryan Brotherhood member arrested
— St. Tammany News reports: “A convicted felon, who is a member of the white supremacist prison gang, Aryan Brotherhood, and his girlfriend were arrested last week by Slidell police on various drug charges after a search of the man’s Robert Street home turned up ecstasy, methamphetamines, marijuana and painkillers.”
— “Slidell Police Chief Freddy Drennan said that his detectives began an investigation into the two suspects several weeks ago after police got an anonymous tip on the Narcotics Hotline that Cliff M. Milligan, 32, and his girlfriend, Stacey O’Brien, 29, both living at 236 Robert St. in Slidell, were dealing narcotics in several Olde Towne bars. Drennan said that undercover police were able to buy narcotics from the pair, and on Oct. 1, Slidell police and St. Tammany Sheriff’s deputies served a search warrant at the Robert Street home.”
— China Aid reports on “The Oppression of Linfen-Fushan Church Continues”
— “SHANXI–Huozhou City officials met on October 3rd to discuss results of the emergency meeting held on September 28th, where officials assembled to determine whether Linfen Fushan Church would be charged as an ‘evil cult.’ Citing the need to preserve stability in the province, local officials had seized Linfen-Fushan Church’s Senior Pastor Wang Xiaoguang, his wife Yang Rongli, and more than ten co-leaders on September 25 for attempting to petition Beijing, and have since continued to hold them in detention. Three days after the arrests, the Fushan Government held the emergency meeting to determine whether the Linfen-Church violated Chinese laws on religion, which explicitly ban ‘evil cults.'”
— “On October 3rd, the Religious Affairs Bureau of Huozhou (RAB) deemed the 50,000 member church to legitimate, but the government reported they would no longer tolerate the “gross violations and law-breaking actions’ of Pastor Wang Xiaoguang and his wife Yang Rongli over the past ten years. The RAB reportedly listed these violations, but no legal record of these abuses have been issued or confirmed. According to an inside source, the officials expressed satisfaction that the ten church leaders were being held in their “rightful place” in administrative detention, and the government resolved that the situation must be fully “dealt with” in the upcoming weeks.”
— “Though a state military numbers have decreased slightly in the past two weeks, ten police vehicles are still stationed at the main Fushan Church around the clock, barring members from entry and assembly.”
— “ChinaAid President Bob Fu is preparing for the gathering storm: ‘The Chinese communist government has used the National Day celebration as an excuse to intensify religious persecution throughout China. With the celebrations coming to an end, they have no intention of scaling back the attacks on house churches. They have tried to place blame for the destruction on the church itself, kidnapping the church leaders, and unjustly accused them of inciting a “violent uprising.” It is just an excuse to declare martial law, and use national military police forces to deny religious freedom! We urge the international community to raise their voice against this gross abuse of state power, and call for the immediate release of the innocent church leaders. The Chinese communist government cannot justify their abuse of basic human freedoms.'”
Iran: First opposition protester sentenced to death
AKI reports: — “Iranian authorities this week sentenced monarchist Mohammad Reza Ali-Zamani to death for his role in the unrest following the contested 12 June election, reformist website Mowjcamp reported on Wednesday. He is the first person to face execution for his role in the protests against alleged fraud that returned hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power in the presidential poll.”
— “There has been no official confirmation of the verdict.”
— “Ali-Zamani had confessed to plotting against Iran’s Islamic system and belonging to the previously little-known Iran Monarchy Committee (IMC), which the theocratic Iranian government regards as a terrorist group. Reformist website: Iran protester gets death sentence
“Olympic Hopeful who Lost Legs in Tiananmen Uprising Sends Human Rights Message to China by Way of Waltz”
— ABC reports:
— “Fang Zheng sent a human rights message to China today, by way of a waltz. Fang, 42, was back on his feet — and dancing, no less — for the first time today since a tank sheared off his legs in the uprising at Tiananmen Square 20 years ago.”
— “Then a 22-year-old university senior and accomplished sprinter with Olympic ambitions, Fang joined the demonstrations for democracy in 1989. He and his fellow students were agitating against the Communist government, hoping to win democratic rights. But on June 4, 1989, the Chinese regime issued a crackdown, and Fang was one of the casualties.”
— “‘In the blink of an eye, the tank was approaching the sidewalk and closing in on me. It seemed as if the barrel of its gun was inches from my face. I could not dodge it in time. I threw myself to the ground and began to roll. But it was too late. My upper body fell between two treads of the tank, but both my legs were run over,’ he said in a testimony before a human rights commission. ‘The treads rolled over my legs and my pants, and I was dragged for a distance. I used all my strength to break free and to roll to the side of the road.'”
The Fifth Interethnic / Interfaith Leadership Conference Set for Washington, D.C. October 8-10 — Initiatives for China is coordinating a three day conference where “leaders of ethnic and religious groups of China to convene for three-day conference to promote understanding, respect, and cooperation.”
