Sudan arrested Czech missionary and filmmaker Petr Jasek in early December on numerous charges stemming from his work exposing Christian persecution in the nation.
Czech authorities have attempted to gain his release through diplomatic means. They said authorities charged him with documenting Christian persecution and illegally crossing between Sudan and South Sudan.
The Christian Times reported:
Petr Jasek’s video is being used as a major piece of evidence against him. In the video, a man is seen describing how he got his burn wounds. While Jasek said the Christian man was violently attacked by Muslims, the man has denied such an incident. The man claimed the accused had just misinterpreted his words because he got the injuries from a car accident, the report relays.
Jasek’s case is difficult because Sudan’s legislation is inspired by the traditional Islamic Sharia law. In addition, he has reportedly been accused of crossing the state border illegally.
Interpol listed Jasek as missing since December 12 in Khartoum, Sudan.
Czech Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Michaela Lagronova told the press that authorities “have been intensively negotiating on several fronts.” They have spoken with Sudan’s ambassador in Prague and “the future Czech honorary consul in Sudan.”
“The diplomatic mission in Cairo also helps us and we use the representation of the European Union in Sudan as well,” she explained.
She confirmed Jasek remains in good health.
Last July, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) reported that Pastor Michael and Pastor Pete, two Sudanese Christians, faced the death penalty because they allegedly committed numerous offenses. Authorities released the two men a month later after international outcry.
Christian persecution in Sudan made international headlines in 2014, when a court sentenced Mariam Ibrahim for apostasy, the crime of renouncing the Muslim faith, which may result in the death penalty.
Courts accused her of adultery because they did not recognize her marriage to Daniel Wadi, a Christian American. Authorities considered her a Muslim because her father practiced Islam, but she told them she has always embraced Christianity. She gave birth to their daughter Maya while in prison, reportedly with her ankles in chains.
They eventually freed her, but rearrested her on charges of falsified documents. The accusations were eventually dropped, and she fled to Italy. Pope Francis blessed her on July 24, before the family flew to America. Ibrahim and Wadi arrived in New Hampshire on July 31.
In 2012, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir promised the country the next constitution would be “100 percent Islamic.” Stoning and flogging are still acceptable punishments, and police are allowed to publicly flog women accused of public indecency. In 2010, a woman received floggings in public while police officers and spectators laughed at her. A court sentenced Laila Ibrahim Issa Jamool, 23, to death by stoning after she was found guilty of adultery. In October 2013, another woman received floggings in public because she was in a vehicle with an unrelated male.