About 38 members of an evangelical church in Khartoum North were arrested by the police on Tuesday morning, during a vigil to try to prevent seizure of the church land by investors who claim rights to the property.  

Reverend Yehya Abdurrahim Nalo of the Evangelical Church in Sudan told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday that police cordoned off the church in the morning and broke the main gate to allow the investor Khalid who claims the land to take it over per the directives of a court.

“The police raided the church at around 6:00 a.m., with eight vehicles, so they broke the wall and then arrested 38 church members who were found praying,” he said.

He identified the arrested members of the church as the head of the evangelical church denomination council Rafat Samir and secretary El Sheikh Daud. He added that several deacons and deaconesses, priests as well as youths were also arrested.

The priest denounced what happened, saying it goes beyond the norms and laws as well as Sudanese ethics. The head of the church called on the decision-makers to intervene by stopping what he termed acts that smear the image of the county and destroy religious coexistence in Sudan.

Yehya explained that the arrested members are due to be taken to the court soon. He pointed out that the arrested were divided into divided into three categories.

“The first category was taken to the public order department, and the second category is at Kober, while the third group was being held in Jiref,” he said.

The evangelical leader disclosed that about eight members have already been fined on charges of causing inconvenience and objecting to the order made by the authorities.

Meanwhile, the defence lawyer of the church Ahmed Thalah confirmed to Radio Tamazuj that there was a contract actually signed by the former head of the Evangelical Church allowing the investor Khalid to build for investment purposes.

However, the lawyer admitted there was a mistake committed in identifying the right site to be built by that investor. He promised to resolve the issue.

Photo: Women protest at the Evangelical church in Khartoum North, 19 November 2014. The banner reads: “No to fear, no to surrender. The people of the church stand against investment.”

Related coverage:

Khartoum North priests summoned over church demolition protest (25 Nov.)

Pastors protest church demolition in Khartoum North (24 Nov.)

Police seize church property in Khartoum (20 Nov.)