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Sean Nelson

SENIOR COUNSEL, GLOBAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Sean Nelson serves as Senior Counsel for Global Religious Freedom with ADF International, where he advocates on behalf of Christians and other religious minorities being persecuted for their faith around the world.

Sean Nelson serves as Senior Counsel for Global Religious Freedom with ADF International, where he advocates on behalf of Christians and other religious minorities being persecuted for their faith around the world. In this role, he supports ADF International’s Allied Lawyer Network, who represent clients whose freedom of religion is suppressed. Based in Washington, D.C., he engages with the U.S. State Department, U.S. Congress, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and various other institutions and organizations to coordinate efforts to promote religious freedom worldwide.

Prior to joining ADF International, Nelson was an associate attorney at Jenner & Block LLP in Los Angeles, CA, where he focused on complex commercial litigation and government investigations. He earned his J.D. at Harvard Law School, where he worked as a research assistant helping to develop arguments for robust religious freedom protections in pluralistic societies. He also received an M.A. in English from the University of California, Irvine, and a B.A. in English and Art History from the University of Southern California. Nelson is admitted to the bar of the District of Columbia and to the state bar of California.

Current Cases

Rhoda Jatau talks with ADF International's Sean Nelson about her "blasphemy" experience

Rhoda Jatau: Nigeria

Rhoda Jatau, eine nigerianische Christin und Mutter von fünf Kindern, musste sich jahrelang einem Strafverfahren stellen – darunter 19 Monate Haft– wegen angeblicher „Blasphemie“. Ihr Verbrechen? Ihr wurde vorgeworfen auf WhatsApp ein Video geteilt zu haben, in dem sie den Lynchmord an Deborah Emmanuel Yakubu verurteilte.

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