Persecute \Per"se*cute\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Persecuted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Persecuting}.] [F. pers['e]cueter, L. persequi, persecutus, to pursue, prosecute; per + sequi to follow, pursue. See {Per-}, and {Second}.] 1. To pursue in a manner to injure, grieve, or afflict; to beset with cruelty or malignity; to harass; especially, to afflict, harass, punish, or put to death, for adherence to a particular religious creed or mode of worship.
Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. --Matt. v. 44.
2. To harass with importunity; to pursue with persistent solicitations; to annoy. --Johnson.
Syn: To oppress; harass; distress; worry; annoy.
On Friday, the U.S. State Department said the detentions "only serve to tarnish Kenya's image in the international community," and it urged the government not to persecute the opposition.
You also learn from the Holocaust that you cannot persecute people because your own people's persecution has been so traumatic," Fogel said.
'They are just trying to persecute us and we won't agree to their demands.
If people in England "choose to use this as a platform to persecute me as an Irish Catholic American, then that is their indulgence," he said.
"My views shouldn't persecute me, actions should," Londell Williams said Thursday after a federal grand jury returned the indictment. "I haven't done anything.