The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) welcomes the release of Pastor Nihad Hassan of the Kurdish Evangelical Church in Beirut, who was released in Aleppo on August 3.
According to an official statement from his church, Pastor Hassan, who serves as pastor of the church, was arrested on July 19 after returning from Lebanon to his home village of Kourdan. Reports indicate that his arrest is related to social media posts attributed to him.
Pastor Hassan is widely known for his spiritual leadership and for providing humanitarian assistance and pastoral care to displaced communities in both Syria and Lebanon. His detention therefore affects not only his congregation but also many individuals and families who have relied on his support and ministry.
The arrest, had raised concerns about religious freedom and freedom of expression, likely undermining the Sharaa Administration’s efforts to demonstrate to the international community its respect for Syria’s diverse population.
We join his lawyer in thanking governmental, judiciary officers and the Syrian lawyer’s union (Aleppo branch) in ensuring that the rule of law which requires that legal questions be decided by an independent judiciary rather than through prolonged pre-trial detention.
The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) was founded in 1846 and is a network of churches in over 165 nations that have each formed an evangelical alliance, and over 100 international organisations joining together to give a world-wide identity, voice, and platform to more than 650 million evangelical Christians worldwide.
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