World : Asylum Seeker Seized in Church

MANCHESTER, England —  Police burst into a church vestry today and dragged away a Sri Lankan seeking political asylum, an action one critic called an “act of savagery” against the ancient right to sanctuary.

Viraj Mendis, an activist who says he fears persecution or death if he returns home, had handcuffed himself to a radiator when 16 police and two immigration agents broke into the Church of the Ascension in the run-down Hulme district, police said. Police cut Mendis’ handcuffs with acetylene torches, and a witness said the 32-year-old screamed, “Murderers! Murderers!” as they took him to a London prison to await deportation, scheduled for Friday.