All 5 Uses

persecution
in
The Power and the Glory, by Graham Greene by Greene
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One year his class acted a little play before the bishop, based on the persecution of the early Christians, and no one was more amused than Juan when he was chosen to play the part of Nero.†
Chpt 1.2

persecution = very bad and unfair treatment
The mother, compressing her lips, continued: '...the persecution of the early Christians.†
Chpt 1.4 *
He felt respect all the way up the street: men took off their hats as he passed: it was as if he had got back to the days before the persecution.†
Chpt 3.1
Even that evil man, who had persecuted so many innocent people, was visibly moved.†
Chpt 4

persecuted = treated very badly and unfairly
He raised the crucifix at the end of his beads and prayed that God would forgive them, would enlighten their ignorance, and bring them at last — as Saul the persecutor was brought —into his eternal kingdom.†
Chpt 4

persecutor = someone who treats others (or another) very badly and unfairly

Definitions:

(1) (persecution)
very bad and unfair treatment of others -- often because of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or political beliefs
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)