c. 1998 Religion News Service
Murdered Christian family buried in Pakistan, blame government for killing
(RNS) A family of nine Pakistani Christians was buried Thursday (Nov. 19) as mourners shouted anti-government slogans against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has proposed instituting a strict version of Islamic law as practiced by the Taliban government in neighboring Pakistan.
Police guarded the funeral procession in the town of Nowsherea, where hundreds of Christians gathered to pay their last respects to the Bhatti family, whose bodies were found with their throats cut and whose unknown assailants daubed anti-black magic slogans in blood on their walls.”Nawaz Sharif, you said justice would be delivered at the doorstep,”one of the Christian banners at the funeral said.”Where are you now? The Christian minority demands justice.” Reuters reported that the police had identified several suspects but declined to say whether the killings might have been religiously inspired.
Benazir Bhutto, the opposition leader, said he had no doubt the killing of the nine-member family was religiously motivated and blamed it on the effort by the government to impose Islamic law on the country.
A neighbor of the slain family said the family’s 70-year-old patriarch, John, practiced black magic and made large amounts of money from both men and women for his services.
But members of the family dismissed such allegations.
Russian government considering law against `political extremism’
(RNS) After a firestorm of controversy over a Communist Party lawmaker’s anti-Semitic remarks, Russian government officials say they are considering drafting a law to ban parties that demonstrate”political extremism.” Pavel Krasheninnikov, the government’s justice minister, also renewed his push for parliament to pass a draft law banning Nazi symbols, the Associated Press reported. That measure has been sitting in the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, since August.
At a rally last month, retired general and Communist lawmaker Albert Makashov blamed Russia’s current economic crisis on”zhidy,”or”yids,”a slur against Jews. He also called for a quota on Jews in government.
His comments outraged many officials, but the Communist-dominated Duma refused to censure him, prompting some calls for a ban of the Communist party.
But other lawmakers said that anti-Semitism is not a problem in Russia.
Ultranationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky said the furor over Makashov’s remarks was aimed at testing Russian presidential hopefuls on their attitudes toward Jews.
Vatican still probing Swiss Guard murder
(RNS) The head of the Swiss Guard, the Vatican organization charged with protecting the pope and providing police protection for the Holy See, says it is still investigating the slaying of the Guard’s former commander and that the probe has yet to produce any results.
Pius Segmueller took over the Swiss Guard in August, three months after the death of Alois Estermann.
In May, Estermann and his wife, Gladys Meza Romero, were found dead of gunshot wounds in their apartment inside the Vatican walls. Laying next to them was the body of guard member Cedric Tornay, whom the Vatican said killed the couple and then himself in a fit of madness.
Segmuller, speaking at a news conference marking his 100 days as head of the Swiss Guard, said a report on the slayings will be published as soon as the Guard’s internal investigation is concluded, the Associated Press reported. But he gave no indication of when that report would be complete.
Court upholds conviction in New Era bankrupt charity case
(RNS) A federal appeals court has unanimously affirmed a 12-year prison sentence imposed on John Bennett Jr., head of the New Era Philanthropy organization which has been billed as the biggest charity scam in the nation’s history.
Bennett, as head of New Era, solicited some $350 million from philanthropists and 500 nonprofit organizations, including a number of evangelical ministries, Christian colleges and other charities.
Bennett promised to double the money of investors within six months with matching contributions in which prosecutors said was an elaborate Ponzi scheme because there were no matching donors.
In March, Bennett pleaded no contest to 82 counts of money laundering, fraud and tax violations.
Quote of the day: William Schulz, executive director, Amnesty International USA.
(RNS)”These kids will be back on the street in one day. Nothing is guaranteed to turn a confused, angry teen-ager into a bitter adult than abusing them while they are in prison, ignoring their mental health concerns and housing them with adults.” _ William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA, commenting on the ethical failures of America’s juvenile justice system in a report released by Amnesty on Nov. 17.
DEA END RNS
