Christian World | International Christian Concern says a Sudanese pastor's son held for over a year in Khartoum's Kober prison has been freed; no other source has confirmed it yet

ACW | October 23, 2026 — International Christian Concern (ICC) reported on Thursday, October 23, 2026, that the son of an exiled Sudanese pastor has been released from Kober prison in Khartoum.

According to ICC, the Christian man returned to Khartoum in July 2025 to visit his wife and was arrested the next day. He then spent more than a year in Kober prison.

ICC wrote that courts repeatedly found him innocent, yet he remained in prison. The group said he received threats in custody and that there were attempts to arrange his release so he could be killed outside the prison.

ICC quoted him as saying: "I thank God for my release, and I am deeply grateful to ICC for their prayers and the help they gave." The report does not say when he was freed or which authority released him.

According to ICC, he is now in a safe place in Khartoum, but his life remains at risk while he stays in the capital. Sudanese officials have not commented. No other source has confirmed this report so far.

Background: ICC says his father is a pastor who fled Sudan years ago after resisting state control of the church, and links the son's detention to the father's refusal to hand over church land under government pressure.

Why it matters: According to ICC, the man was held for more than a year without any proven crime and despite rulings of innocence — a case that shows how fragile freedom of religion or belief remains for Sudan's Christians amid war and pressure on churches.

ACW will continue to follow this story.

Source: International Christian Concern (ICC) — Christian prisoner released in Sudan

Photo (illustrative): Coptic cathedral, Khartoum — Petr Adam Dohnálek, Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0