US urges Eritrea Ruler to release 90 year old patriarch now 12 yrs in detention
20 July 2019
Washington DC - On Wednesday at a White House meeting with survivors of relegious persecutions, one such Eritrean lady appealed to the US government to help free a 90 year old patriarch of the Orthodox church, Abune Antonios, now 12 years in detention. Next day, on Thursday U.S Vice President Mike Pence speaking at a conference on religious freedom at the state department echoed the said request and urged Eritrea ruler, tyant Isias Aferqi, emphatically to let Abune Antonios go. Below the remarks of Pence and exerpts of corresponding video:
"The United States stands with all victims of religious persecution. And
the America people have them in our hearts and in our prayers,
whether it be North Korea, China, Burma, Iran, or all around the world.
But today, I'd also like to draw attention to four men who have faced
down enormous pressure to stay true to their faith and whose release,
even now after a long captivity, would help restore the reputation of
the countries that have detained them.
In Eritrea, the 90-year-old patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Abune
Antonios, continues an already 12-year-long house arrest because he
refuses to ex-communicate critics of the government in his church.
In Mauritania, the blogger Mohamed Cheikh Mkhaïtir, is still being held
for criticizing the government's use of Islam to justify discrimination.
In Pakistan, Professor Junaid Hafeez remains in solitary confinement
on unsubstantiated charges of blasphemy.
And in Saudi Arabia, blogger Raif Badawi is still in prison for the
alleged crime of "criticizing Islam through electronic means."
All four of these men have stood in defense of religious liberty, in the
exercise of their faith, despite unimaginable pressure. And the
American people stand with them.
And so, today, the United States of America calls upon the
governments of Eritrea, Mauritania, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia to
respect the rights of conscience of these men, and let these men go." VP Pence.
(Applause.)
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