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Eritrea: 13 Christians released after 10 years in jail, 300 more believers still imprisoned

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Thirteen Christians in Eritrea were released from jail late last month, after being wrongfully imprisoned without charge for 10 years, the Christian Post (CP) reports.

In a statement, the Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) Christian organization said the 13 prisoners released included seven women and six men, CP reports. The prisoners were released after a campaign launched by VOM which called on Christians to pray for imprisoned Eritrean believers and to contact the Eritrean Embassy on their behalf.

More than 10,000 people responded to the VOM initiative that was launched on July 22, CP reports. Less than a week later, VOM was informed that the dictatorial government of Eritrea had released 13 believers.

“We thank the Lord for the freedom of these brothers and sisters who have been released from prison in Eritrea. We thank Him for intervening on behalf of these 13,” VOM spokesperson Todd Nettleton told CP. “Don’t stop praying. There are still more than 300 Christians in Eritrean prisons. Don’t stop being a voice for them to the Eritrean Embassy.”

“Believers in Eritrea continue to suffer extreme persecution, making it one of the hardest places in the world to follow Jesus,” the Open Doors international Christian advocacy organization reports in a website statement. “There are thought to be 1,000 Christians indefinitely detained in Eritrean prisons, not officially charged with anything. Some leaders of ‘unofficial’ churches have been imprisoned in terrible conditions for more than a decade, including solitary confinement in tiny cells,” Open Doors attests.

With at least 300 other Christians still wrongfully imprisoned without charge, Islamic-ruled Eritrea ranks 4th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.