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10 persecution stories that gained global attention in the last 10 years

By Todd Nettleton, Voices Contributor Saturday, December 28, 2019

A South African court issued an interim order June 14, 2015, designed to prevent Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir from leaving the country, where he has been attending an African Union summit. | Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

7. Omar al-Bashir removed from power in Sudan after decades of targeting Christians

Bashir’s Islamist government had long targeted Christians in South Sudan; with the separation of that area into a separate, new nation in 2011, Bashir’s government turned more attention to Christians in his new, smaller country.

Meriam Ibrahim was arrested for apostasy and sentenced to execution. Czech Christian Petr Jasek — my coworker at The Voice of the Martyrs — was sentenced to life in prison for alleged espionage before the Czech government arranged for his release. Two Christians charged with colluding with Petr were also found guilty, sent to prison, and later released.

But late in 2018, Sudan’s people rose up and demanded a change. Bashir’s government was removed from power in 2019, with surprisingly-little bloodshed. The former dictator was arrested and is locked in one of the prisons where Petr was held.

Todd Nettleton is the host of The Voice of the Martyrs Radio, a weekly half-hour program heard on 1000+ radio stations and by podcast listeners around the world. Todd has served with The Voice of the Martyrs for 21 years and speaks regularly at VOM Advance Conferences. He has traveled to more than 20 restricted and hostile nations and interviewed hundreds of believers who faced persecution for their Christian witness. He is the author of Restricted Nations: North Korea and was part of the writing team for four other VOM books.