Peter Yein Reith and Yat Michael Ruot, two Evangelical Presbyterian pastors from South Sudan may face the death penalty for their Christian faith. The pastors were arrested and detained by Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on charges of violating the Sudanese Constitution and espionage. They were last seen on Wednesday, June 3. Their next court hearing is scheduled for Monday, June 15.
Ruot was arrested after preaching a sermon in a city across from Khartoum on Dec. 21, 2014. Reith was arrested after writing a letter about Ruot to the Khartoum's Office of Religious Affairs on Jan. 11, 2015. The NISS prevented the pastors from gaining access to lawyers and from contacting family members until March 1, 2015. They were last seen at the Omdurman Prison for Men on June 3. Officials say that the pastors were moved to Kober, a high-security prison in North Khartoum on June 6. At their new location, the pastors are being denied access to visitors.
"I'm fearful that they will execute these pastors for practicing their faith," said David Curry in an interview with FOX News. Curry is the CEO of Open Doors USA, an organization that helps persecuted Christians worldwide.
In 2015, Open Doors released a World Watch List that listed Sudan as 6th out of 50 countries for severe Christian persecution. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports that Ruot and Reith face charges "for six serious crimes, including undermining the constitutional system (Article 50 of the Sudanese Penal Code) and waging war against the state (Article 51), both of which carry the death penalty or life imprisonment."
Mervyn Thomas, the chief executive of CSW says that the NISS' refusal of granting the pastors access to lawyers is in "violation of article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Sudan is party, and which guarantees the right of those charged with a crime to communicate with counsel of their own choosing." He advocates that the pastors be granted access to legal representatives and visits by family members. He also said in a statement that since the pastors "have not been found guilty of any crime," the detainment at Kober should be reconsidered.
