Sudanese Christian Amin Ismail is out of Kobar Prison in Khartoum after more than a year behind bars, Christian Daily International reports, citing International Christian Concern. ICC reported Oct. 23 that he had been held since July 2025, when he returned to the capital to visit his wife and was arrested the next day. His release has not ended the danger. He remains in Khartoum while he looks for a safe way to leave.
His imprisonment followed years of pressure on his father, Pastor Ismail Azzaz, according to ICC. The pastor fled Sudan after he refused to surrender church land during government efforts to bring churches under state control. ICC says courts repeatedly found Amin innocent, yet he stayed behind bars. The organization also reported that a powerful man in the capital had taken an interest in Ismail's wife, and it linked the case to the wider pressure on his father over church property.
In a statement ICC published, Ismail said, "I thank God for my release, and I am deeply grateful to ICC for their prayers and the help they gave." He said he knows the Lord opened the door, and he trusts Him to bring him safely out of the capital. He asked for continued prayer for himself and his family. An ICC staff member said, "We give thanks to the Lord for this answered prayer."
The danger is real. ICC reported that people had tried to arrange his release so that he could be killed outside the prison, though it did not say who. Pastor Azzaz, still in exile, welcomed his son's release but continues to fear for the family's safety, according to ICC.
The case fits a wider pattern, Christian Daily International reports. In September, ICC reported that authorities were seeking to transfer control of property belonging to the Sudanese Church of Christ's Marzouq branch in Khartoum. In October 2025, police arrested Presbyterian pastor Daud Fudul Kachu in Atbara, River Nile state, amid a dispute over church property. Sudan's war, which began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has destroyed church buildings and scattered congregations.
ICC asks Christians to pray for his protection and for the safety of his wife and family as he seeks to reach a place beyond the reach of those he fears. In this week of prayer for the persecuted church, start with Sudan, and with his name. Hebrews 13:3 tells us to remember those in prison.
Read Hebrews 13:3
