c. 1996 Religion News Service
Eds: The last name of both the judge and defense attorney in the following story is How.)
Singapore court upholds arrests of Jehovah’s Witnesses
(RNS)-A Singapore judge ruled Thursday (May 2) that the government acted legally when it jailed and fined seven Jehovah’s Witnesses for threatening national security by belonging to the banned sect.
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society-the formal name for the Jehovah’s Witnesses group-was declared illegal in Singapore in 1972 because of its theological opposition to military service and swearing national allegiance. Officials said Jehovah’s Witnesses were undermining the nation’s draft laws and public order.
Last year, Singapore cracked down on the group, which has about 2,000 followers in the small Asian nation. Sixty-four individuals were arrested, including the seven whose appeals of their arrests and fines came before Singapore Chief Justice Yong Pung How.
Defense attorney W. Glen How, a Canadian, argued that the ban trampled the constitutionally protected rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses to religious freedom.”They’re being denied their rights without a chance to be heard,”the attorney said, according to the Associated Press.
However, the judge ruled that the government had the right to restrict religious freedom if it threatened the state.
Three of the seven were sentenced to two weeks in prison, while one man was jailed for one week. Three others were ordered to pay fines of $1,400 each.
All the fines have been paid and all but one of those ordered to spend time behind bars served their sentences before their appeals were heard. Attorney How indicated that no further appeals were planned, noting that the same judge would have to approve the additional court action.
The remainder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses arrested have yet to have their appeals heard.
Eds: Mahometan is cq in graph 6.)
Catholics and Muslims clash in Mozambique over holidays
(RNS)-A move to make two Muslim feasts national holidays in Mozambique has heightened tensions between Muslims and Roman Catholics in the African nation.
Prior to its independence from Portugal, Catholicism was the official religion of Mozambique. In the years since, Islam has overtaken Catholicism as the nation’s dominant faith. There are about 4 million Muslims and 3 million Catholics in the nation of about 17 million.
Recently, Muslim political leaders introduced a bill in the parliament that would make the feasts of the Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr national holidays. Eid al-Adha concludes the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr comes at the conclusion of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
The bill has passed two readings in parliament and will soon come before the legislators one last time. It will then go to President Joaquim Chissano for his approval or veto.
Catholic Cardinal Alexandre dos Santos, archibishop of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, has publicly opposed the bill, leading to verbal attacks on the church this week by Muslims.
The Mahometan Community of Mozambique, one of several Islamic organizations in the nation, said in a statement Monday (April 29) that”in rejecting the right of Muslims to celebrate their day with all the Mozambican people, the Catholic Church simply demonstrates its hypocrisy and dishonesty in relation to the other religions in the country,”Reuter news agency reported.
The statement noted that during the colonial period,”the Catholics always prided themselves on their supremacy, using the state and the institutions of the state for their own benefit.”It also urged Chissano to approve the bill”in order to restore justice for the Muslims.” There was no immediate word on what action Chissano might take.
(Eds. Elan is cq in graph 3)
Swiss banks, Jewish groups agree on search for Holocaust victims’ deposits
(RNS)-Jewish leaders and Swiss banking officials have agreed to look for what may amount to billions of dollars that were deposited in Swiss banks by Holocaust victims.
A two-page agreement was signed in New York Thursday (May 2) that is intended to pave the way for the banking officials and representatives of international Jewish groups to search for the funds.
Elan Steinberg, executive director of the World Jewish Congress, called the agreement”a good first step. It will be a milestone if the letter and spirit are carried out.” Secrecy laws have prevented heirs from retrieving money deposited in Swiss banks by Jews who later perished in the Holocaust. The banks have now pledged to open their records to the committee. Coming under scrutiny will be accounts that were opened between the early 1930s and the middle of World War II and have remained inactive since.
The Swiss Bankers Association said in September that it had located about $32 million in unclaimed accounts that appear to have been opened by Holocaust victims.
However, Jewish groups have maintained that the true value of the accounts is closer to $7 billion.
The agreement signed in New York established a seven-person committee-which will include both Swiss banking and Jewish organization representatives-to oversee the search.
Clinton urged to allow the shipment of computers to Cuba
(RNS)-Several members of Congress joined with religious leaders Thursday (May 2) in urging President Clinton to allow Pastors for Peace to ship 400 used computers to Cuba for use in churches and medical facilities.
In January, Pastors for Peace volunteers were stopped at the Mexican border near San Diego and prevented from taking the computers into Mexico, from where the group hoped to ship the computers to Havana.
U.S. customs officials then confiscated the computers, saying attempts to ship them to Cuba violated U.S. trade sanctions that intended to put pressure on Fidel Castro’s communist government.
Since Feb. 21, four Pastors for Peace supporters have been on a hunger strike-limiting their intake to water, lemon juice, salt and small amounts of maple syrup-in an effort to get the U.S. government to release the computers.
In a statement, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., appealed to the president to intervene.”Our government should not be in the business of denying humanitarian supplies to sick people, especially when religious people with a moral position are willing to put their lives on the line,”he said.
Rep. Ronald V. Dellums, D-Calif., praised the four fasters for”test(ing) your convictions against our society’s, our government’s will to punish the Cuban people and their government.” Top leadership of the United Methodist Church, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ and American Baptist Churches USA also lent their support to the Minneapolis-based Pastors for Peace.
There was no immediate response from the White House.
Former Mormon church and federal Treasury official David M. Kennedy dies
(RNS)-David M. Kennedy, a former representative of the Mormon church’s governing First Presidency, died Wednesday (May 1) at his home in Salt Lake City at age 90.
Kennedy served as Treasury secretary in the Nixon administration. He was also a U.S. ambassador at large with cabinet rank and the U.S. ambassador to NATO under President Nixon.
In 1974, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormons are officially called, appointed Kennedy a special representative of the First Presidency. He served in that post-which essentially made him a roving ambassador of the church-for four years.
Quote of the Day: The Rev. Daniel E. Weiss, general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA
(RNS)-The Rev. Daniel E. Weiss, general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA, speaking recently in Washington at the annual meeting of the North American Baptist Fellowship, on Jesus’ intentions for the church:”I wonder if you agree with me that too often, tragically, our current conception of the church is a far cry from the intention and vision of our Lord. We have it so organized, categorized, systemized and homogenized that we often become paralyzed. It is as if we’re been charged to `Go into all the world and form committees and commissions,’ and so we do. The organization is often seen as an end in itself rather than a means to an end.”
END RNS
