A Dao woman walks past a church in Sapa town in northern Lao Cai province, 350 km (217 miles) from Hanoi September 2, 2007. | Reuters/Kham
A Christian pastor imprisoned in the Southeast Asian country of Laos for refusing to halt worship has been freed after over one year in detention.
Sources told Radio Free Asia that 35-year-old Pastor Sithon Thippavong in Savannaket’s Xonnaboury district was released last Friday, three days after the Provincial People’s Court convicted him on charges of “disrupting unity” and “creating disorder.”
“He was sentenced to one year in jail and fined a total of 4 million kip [about $426], with 2 million kip paid for each charge,” an official from the provincial prosecutor’s office was quoted as saying under the condition of anonymity.
A small victory for Christians in communist Laos
Pastor is released after a year in jail but convicted of disrupting unity for holding religious services
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Pastor Sithon Thippavong attends a Christian wedding ceremony in Savannakhet province in September 2018. He has been released after spending a year in prison. (Photo: Radio Free Asia)
A Laotian pastor who was kept in police detention for more than a year for conducting religious activities related to his Christian faith is a free man again.
Sithon Thippavong, 35, a Christian leader from the southern province of Savannakhet, was convicted on April 6 by a provincial court on charges of “disrupting unity” and “creating disorder.”
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According to Radio Free Asia, an official of the provincial prosecutor’s office told RFA that Pastor Sithon Thippavong, 35, was released on April 9 after being convicted by the Provincial People’s Court on April 6 on charges of “disrupting unity” and “creating disorder.”
“He was sentenced to one year and two months in jail and fined a total of four million kip [U.S. $426], with two million kip paid for each charge,” the official who asked for anonymity said.