Asylum for Eritrean gospel singer

[StarryEyedLad]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7056120.stm

Last Updated: Monday, 22 October 2007, 10:28 GMT 11:28 UK

Asylum for Eritrean gospel singer

An Eritrean Christian gospel singer who was tortured and detained without charge for two years in her homeland has been granted asylum in Denmark.
Helen Berhane was imprisoned inside a metal shipping container and beaten in an effort to make her recant her faith.

Freed in December 2006, she had taken refuge in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, before being granted asylum.

Ms Berhane uses a wheelchair because of severe injuries to her legs and feet sustained in prison beatings.

More than 90% of Eritreans belong to one of four recognised religions - Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran Churches and Islam.

Ms Berhane is a member of the unregistered Rema Church, and had just released a cassette of gospel music when she was arrested in the Eritrean capital on 13 May 2004.

She was one of an estimated 2,000 members of illegal Evangelical church groups in Eritrea who have been arrested in recent years, according to the human rights group Amnesty International.



Eritrea has been condemned for human rights violations and persecution of religious freedoms.

[Buzzardhut]

Amazing how everything but true Christianity is permissible :ohno

[StarryEyedLad]

Here is more info on Helen Berhane:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6117496.stm

Last Updated: Saturday, 4 November 2006, 21:13 GMT

Eritrean gospel singer 'released'

An Eritrean Christian gospel singer, detained by the authorities without charge for more than two years, has been freed, Amnesty International says.
Helen Berhane was among about 2,000 members of illegal Evangelical church groups in Eritrea, who Amnesty says have been arrested in recent years.

She was reportedly imprisoned inside a metal shipping container and beaten in an effort to make her recant her faith.

But Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu denies all knowledge of her case.

More than 90% of Eritreans belong to one of four recognised religions - Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran Churches and Islam.

Ms Berhane, a well-known singer at the unregistered Rema Church, had just released a cassette of gospel music when she was arrested in the capital, Asmara, on 13 May 2004.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Berhane

Helen Berhane
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Helen Berhane (born c. 1975) is a Christian Gospel singer who was a prisoner in Eritrea.

Berhane is a member of the Rema church, one of several minority Evangelical Christian churches not officially recognized by the state of Eritrea and heavily persecuted. She was arrested on 13 May 2004, shortly after she released an album of Christian music, after refusing to sign a document pledging to end all participation in Evangelical activities, effectively forcing her to abandon her prohibited evangelical faith and music.



Berhane's 2003 album, T' Kebaeku (I Am Anointed), was re-released in Europe in June 2006.