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Paul van Buitenen, evangelikální křesťan bojující proti korupci v Evropské unii (EU), získal křeslo v Evropském parlamentu ve volbách, které se konaly 10.-13. června v 25 členských státech EU. Van Buitenen, bývalý úředník finančního odboru EU,kandidoval za novou stranu Evropská transparentnost a dostal 7,3% hlasů. Tato strana vyšle dva z 27 holandských zástupců do evropského parlamentu ve Strasbourgu. Van Buitenen odhalil jeden z největších korupčních skandálů v historii EU. Po jeho odhalení museli v roce 1999 všichni členové komise EU rezignovat. Van Buitenen řekl, že jeho křesťanská víra mu dala odvahu zveřejnit všechna porušení zákona a ustát ten obrovský tlak od svých nadřízených. Doufá, že jako zástupce bude mít větší politický vliv než jako civilní zaměstnanec. Van Buitenen říká, že chce využít svůj mandát k efektivnějšímu boji proti korupci. Jedna myšlenka je zřízení úřadu, kde by občané mohli ohlásit špatné hospodaření a zneužití peněz z daní. Zároveň navrhuje jmenování zvláštního vyšetřovatele, který by se zabýval případy možné korupce a podvodu v rámci EU. (IDEA) |
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100+ CHINESE HOUSE CHURCH LEADERS ARRESTED IN NEW CRACKDOWN
The China Aid Association has learned that more than 100 leaders of the
China Gospel Fellowship (CGF) were arrested Friday, June 11. The arrests
took place at Wuhan City, Hubei province, in east-central China while the
church leaders were meeting together. Eyewitness said about 50 police
officers believed to be from the Public Security Bureau raided the meeting
at about 2 p.m. and arrested all of the participants, including one of the
senior CGF leaders, 39-year-old Xing Jinfu. He had been arrested at least
three times previously for his church activities. In 1996 he was sentenced
to three years of re-education through labor for his "illegal preaching."
The location of those arrested is still unknown. On the same day, well-known
CGF pastor Shen Xianfeng was also put under house arrest in a residential
area of Wuhan City after police offices searched his house. The CGF,
established in the mid-1980s, is one of the five major Chinese house church
groups with an estimated membership of 5 million. (Christian Solidarity
Worldwide)
VIETNAMESE POLICE DETAIN OUTSPOKEN MENNONITE CHURCH LEADER
Vietnamese police arrested Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang, general secretary of the
Vietnam Mennonite Church, after ransacking the building that houses his
office, church and home on Tuesday, June 8. Police reportedly restrained
Quang's wife and children while they ransacked the Mennonite offices in Ho
Chi Minh City. The police seized personal papers, legal documents, money,
computers and human rights files. A trained lawyer, Quang also heads the
legal committee of the Vietnam Evangelical Fellowship, a group of house
churches. One Vietnamese observer said that Quang has been an uncompromising
activist for religious freedom in Vietnam, opposing and exposing
discrimination and persecution. "More than any other Protestant activist, he
has documented harassment and persecution, not only against Mennonite house
churches but against other groups who seek his assistance." He carefully
documents violations of freedoms supposedly guaranteed Vietnamese citizens
under its own laws and affirmed in international agreements that Vietnam has
signed. Human Rights Watch has called for Quang's release, adding that his
arrest "appears to be part of the Vietnamese government's mounting
repression of activists who promote human rights or religious freedom." On
May 21 leaders of the Vietnam Mennonite Church wrote a report on the
increasing levels of harassment and persecution being experienced by the
Mennonite congregation in Dong Nai province. (World Evangelical Alliance
Religious Liberty Commission/Compass)
DUTCH EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN ELECTED TO EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Paul van Buitenen, an evangelical Christian fighting against corruption in
the European Union (EU), has won a seat in the European parliament in
elections held June 10-13 in the 25 EU member states. Van Buitenen, former
financial officer in the EU bureaucracy, won 7.3 percent of the Dutch vote
with his new party, European Transparency. The party will send two of the 27
Dutch deputies to the EU parliament in Strasbourg. Van Buitenen uncovered
one of the biggest fraud and corruption scandals in EU history. Following
his revelations, all members of the EU Commission were forced to resign in
1999. Van Buitenen said his Christian faith gave him the courage to uncover
abuses and to withstand enormous pressure from his superiors. He hopes that
as a deputy he will have more political influence than as a civil servant.
Von Buitenen says he wants to use his mandate to promote more effective
measures against corruption. One idea is to install an office where citizens
can report mismanagement and misuse of taxpayers' money. He also proposes
that a special prosecutor be appointed to investigate cases of possible
corruption and fraud within the EU. (IDEA)
TURKISH AUTHORITIES REJECT LEGAL ZONING STATUS FOR LOCAL CHURCH
A local committee of the Turkish Ministry of Culture has rejected zoning
status recognizing the Diyarbakir Evangelical Church as an official place of
worship. Pastor Ahmet Guvener was informed last month that Turkish law
requires places of worship be situated on at least 2,500 square meters (0.6
acres) of property. The Protestant church property covers only 116 square
meters (979 square feet). Ironically, word of the zoning rejection came just
three days after the May 12 landmark decision in which Guvener was acquitted
on criminal charges of trying to open an "illegal" church. The Turkish state
prosecutor had called for Guvener's acquittal, stressing that Turkey's
agreements with the European Union guaranteed all Turkish citizens the right
to conduct public and private worship. In a June 11 appeal to the Ministry
of Justice, Guvener wrote that "any obstacles to the free expression of a
citizen's beliefs and the opening of places of worship for the exercise of
their beliefs must be lifted." (Compass)
STATES IN INDIA BEGIN DISMANTLING ANTI-CONVERSION LAWS
Hindu lawyers are trying to convince the Tamil Nadu government not to repeal
standing anti-conversion laws, says Mission India's John DeVries. Other
Indian states began doing just that -- along with trashing a national
version -- after elections led to the country's first non-Hindu government.
"The minorities in India -- the Muslims, the Christians, the tribals, the
Dalits -- are all very excited because it looks like the pressure is off,"
DeVries says. "So it's no shock to see believers already in place for
outreach. I don't personally expect persecution to end overnight because
India is composed of states that are somewhat autonomous, and the [Hindu
nationalist] Bharatiya Janata Party is still in control in some of these
states. However, there will now be recourse for those who are persecuted."
(Mission Network News)
* "The Voice of the Great Southland," the shortwave station operated by HCJB
World Radio-Australia since January 2003, airs more than 59 hours of weekly
Christian programming across South Asia. Programs go out in nine languages:
English, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Nepali, Tamil, Chattisgarhi, Hmar and
Meeitei. Most of the programming in the Indian languages is produced at HCJB
World Radio's studio in New Delhi. Additional releases from Australia,
primarily in English, reach the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and East Asia.
NEED, OPPORTUNITY OPEN UP OUTREACH IN CENTRAL AMERICA, CARIBBEAN
Worldwide Christian Schools' Steve Guerink says a combination of need and
opportunity opens doors for outreach in Central America and the Caribbean.
These are areas where families are looking for education to break out of
generations of poverty. As a result, the ministry is looking for teams to
help build schools in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. "The schools
that we're working with are in poor, developing communities, and without our
assistance and help, there's no real good way that they can receive the
gospel of Christ through Christian education." While some teams have already
left, spots are open for fall and winter mission trips. "The most important
element is not whether you are skilled in a trade, such as construction. The
most important part about going on a missions trip is, 'Do you have a
servant's heart?' and 'Are you willing to go and be used of God?'" (Mission
Network News) |
Zprávy HCJB 15.6.2004
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