Pastor Asa, in Laos, detained for spreading Christianity
Laos authorities have detained a Christian Pastor for “attracting people to the Christian faith,” reports BosNewsLife.
A broader crackdown on evangelism in Laos as resulted in the arrest of Pastor Asa on Wednesday at his home in the Peeyeur village.
“He is still in jail,” confirmed Sirikoon Prasertsee, the director of Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF), a major advocacy group working in the area.
RescueChristians.org recounts the Pastor’s case:
Pastor Asa’s case is dated back to two years ago when he was arrested and then was coerced to sign an affidavit that he would neither share nor lead people to accept the Christian faith. However, in this year, he has seen many people accepting the Christian faith as a result of his witness. On June 7, 2012, a day after his arrest, Luang Namtha’s provincial Christian leader, Pastor Khamla, travelled to meet with the provincial police in order to inquire about the ground of Pastor Asa’s arrest. Pastor Khamla discovered that the police authorities have charged Pastor Asa for leading people to receive the Christian faith.
The detention comes a week after Lao authorities released six Thai Christians, who were also detained in Luang Namtha province on March 24 for their involvement in the spreading of the Christian faith,” Prasertsee told BosNewsLife.