On his website today Lord of Alton Liverpool writes,
"Today is religious Freedom Day – Not in Laos, where Four Christian men in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic have been languishing in jail for months because they wanted to hold a Christian funeral.
Four Christian men in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic have been languishing in jail for months because they wanted to hold a Christian funeral, which officials said would have violated local customs and traditions. Christianity has been widely portrayed by local officials and media alike as an alien religion in communist Laos, whose population is predominantly Buddhist and animist.
The four Christians were detained in early July in Khammouane province after they had travelled to a village to participate in the last rites for a deceased fellow believer. Provincial officials deemed the Christian ceremony to be against local customs and arrested the four visitors on sight. The men have not been formally charged with any crime, yet remain incarcerated pending the authorities’ decision on how to proceed."
The full article can be read here.