Update on Afghan Christian
Afghan state prosecutor is now saying Abdul Rahman may be “mentally unfit”:
KABUL, Afghanistan Mar 22, 2006 (AP) An Afghan man facing the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor and presidential adviser said Wednesday.
Abdul Rahman, 41, went on trial last week in Kabul. He was arrested last month after his family accused him of becoming a Christian. The conversion is a crime under Afghanistan’s Islamic laws, and a death sentence is possible.
But prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said questions have been raised about his mental fitness.
“We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn’t talk like a normal person,” he told The Associated Press.
Could this be the way Afghan officials avoid executing Rahman while still adhering to Islamic law, while appeasing the scourging of the international community?
Prosecutor: “Do you confess that you have apostacized from Islam?”
Rahman: “No, I am not an apostate, I believe in God.”
Question: “Do you believe in the Koran?”
Rahman: “I believe in the Injil (New Testament) and love Jesus Christ.”
Prosecutor: “According to the article 130 0of Afghanistan Law it has been until now discussed and the concluded that the MOST SEVERE PUNISHMENT must be given and that is hanging to death.”
Rahman: “Being hanged to death! I accept it, yes I do, but I am not an infidel as I am branded and I am not an apostate. I am a Jesus Follower.”
Watch the video/news reel The Afghan Times, a Christian Afghan website, provided the video and also has these headlines:
-RELIGIOUS FREEDOM STILL IN JEOPARDY UNDER NEW AFGHAN GOV
By a veteran Christian leader in Afghanistan | posted 04/21/2003
“Editor’s note: For security reasons, Christianity Today is granting anonymity to the author of this article.”
– FIVE AFGHAN CHRISTIANS MARTYRED
Taliban militants target converts to Christianity.
– AFGHAN CHRISTIAN LEADER RECEIVED DEATH THREAT OVER THE TELEPHONE
– TALIBAN SAYS ‘CUT THROAT OF AFGHAN CHRISTIAN
– AFGHAN CHRISTIAN WEBSITE SHUT DOWN
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
Sign a petition asking the Afghan President, President of the United States and the US Senate, Congress, State Department and the U.N. to intervene on Abdul Rahman’s behalf.
E-Mail campaign to Pres. Bush to intervene.
PRAY.
Cross-posted at Amy’s Blog
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March 22nd, 2006 at 9:36 am
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March 22nd, 2006 at 1:51 pm
The Prosecution of Abdul Rahman
Abdul Rahman is facing death for converting from Islam to Christianity. It’s horrifying to think that our military men and women fought so hard and sacrificed so much to extricate the Taliban just to have state sanctioned murder of Christians….
March 22nd, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Bush has always talked about spreading democracy. Democracy and freedom are not the same thing. You get the govt you vote for. With less than 15,000 troops in country we have no clout..Remember, even though he doesn’t go to church on a regular basis, he will be saddened by every person of faith excecuted and of course the more than 125 American troops killed there..well and the Pat Tillman lies..hey bein’ President is hard work. I will not jump ship on our commander-in-chief during a time of war..We had to abandon Afghanistan in order to invade Iraq. We are making progress. Do not let minor setbacks disuade you..
March 23rd, 2006 at 12:50 pm
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March 23rd, 2006 at 5:39 pm
[...] … Is the chant that many fear in the West. This fear grows following the case of Abdul Rahman, the man in Afghanistan that faces the death penalty because he has converted to Christianity. Subsequently the widespread campaign to exonerate him is evidenced here, here, here, here, here, here and here. While it is being considered whether he is mentally fit to stand trial, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has given assurences that Rahman will not be put to death. This echoes the words of Mohammad Salim Al-`Awwa, secretary general of the International Union of Muslim Scholars; [...]
March 28th, 2006 at 9:32 am
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