Bergen: Afghan suspect in knifing murder, claims he was attacked for being Christian

Bergen: Afghan suspect in knifing murder, claims he was attacked for being Christian

Via Aftenposten:

One man was killed and another injured following a knifing at Ny-Paradis state asylum centre in Bergen western Norway, Tuesday.  The suspect is an Afghan who made headlines last year when he was attacked with boiling water by fellow residents of his asylum center because he was a Christian convert.  A Somali man was charged for the attack, and was sentenced to five months in prison.  On appeal he was acquitted, as the court believed him it had been an accident.

"He had big problems due to his Christian faith.  There are many in the asylum center who don't accept people converting from Islam to Christianity,' Issa Hammer says of the Afghan suspect.  He's a friend of the two Christian Afghans at the center and goes with them to church.



Tuesday he got a desperate phone call from one of them.  "He said he'd been attacked with a knife by a Somali.  He said he would kill them because they were Christians," says Issa.

Issa, who works as an interpreter, says the two Afghans barricaded themselves in their room.  The fight ended with one person, a Somali, dead and another injured.

The suspect says he acted in self-defense.  He'd been invited into the murdered man's room, and there he was attacked with a knife, but managed to get hold of the knife and killed his attacker.

The suspect transferred to the Paradis asylum center earlier this year, following the troubles he had in the previous place.

The Afghan man was recently denied asylum.  Issa Hammer is upset that society isn't able to protect Christian asylum seekers. 

"The man who poured boiling water over my friend was granted a residence permit and can stay in Norway.  While the two Afghans who were attacked for their Christian faith were rejected.  The immigration authorities don't believe them when they say they're Christian.  But I know they've given their heart to Jesus.  This is a shame for Norwegian society," says Hammer.

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