A jailed Sudanese pastor and geologist have received a presidential pardon and been released from prison.
Abdumonem Abdumawla and Pastor Hassan Abduraheem Taour, jailed with the Czech aid worker Petr Jasek, were released from prison in Khartoum yesterday, World Watch Monitor reports.
Abdumawla and Taour were arrested in December 2015 for 'aiding and abetting' Jasek in allegedly spying. All three men were convicted of inciting hatred and propagating false news earlier this year and sentenced to 12 years in prison in total.
Jasek has already been released, having been pardoned by President Omar Bashir in February.
WWM reports that Jan Figel, the EU Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the EU, called for the pardon to be extended to the other two men after Jasek's release.
Abdumawla was arrested after trying to help a friend who had been injured and burned during a demonstration. He was put in touch with Pastor Abduraheem and Jašek, who then donated money towards the friend's treatment.
Christians have suffered growing persecution in Sudan since the secession of South Sudan in July 2011. Sudan is designated a Country of Particular Concern by the US State Department. Sudan has been on the Open Doors World Watch List since 1993, almost always been ranked in the top 20 over the years. 'Persecution in the country is systematic and reminiscent of ethnic cleansing,' says Open Doors.
