Eritrea releases 69 Christians on bail
Barnabas Fund, 22 September 2020
The Eritrean government has, at the time of writing, released 69 Christian prisoners, many in long-term detention for their faith without trial.
The authorities are continuing make conditional releases from the Mai Serwa prison, near the capital, Asmara.
According to Eritrean Christian leader, Dr Berhane Asmelash, hopes are rising for further significant releases from among the 300 or more Christians who remain incarcerated in the military jail.
Dr Berhane confirmed that most of the prisoners released so far had been in long term detention for at least a decade. No pastors or other senior Christian leaders known to be in captivity were among those released.
“This is an answer to prayer. Thousands of Christians have been praying for this,” he added. “Many have been in prison for a long time. Many will be homeless with nowhere to go. There is no [state] help in Eritrea. People have souls and minds that will need healing.”