Faith Under Fire.......
In Iran, a Christian pastor faces death sentence
By Joe Sterling, CNN
December 7, 2010 2:23 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* The pastor facing death is from Rasht in northern Iran
* Another pastor faces possible indictment for apostasy
* Christians are feeling the heat in other parts of the Muslim world
(CNN) -- A Christan pastor in Iran has been sentenced to death for
allegedly renouncing his Muslim religion and another faces a possible
indictment on the same charge of apostasy, according to a prominent
activist group working for human rights in Iran.
Youcef Nadarkhani, a 32-year-old member of the Church of Iran ministry
and pastor of an approximately 400-person congregation in the northern
city of Rasht, faces death, according to the International Campaign for
Human Rights in Iran.
In the southern city of Shiraz, another Christian pastor, Behrouz
Sadegh-Khanjani, 35, is facing a possible indictment for apostasy.
"This is part of a greater trend of persecution against Christians,"
said Firouz Sadegh-Khanjani, brother of Behrouz and member of the
Church of Iran's Executive Council.
Christians are feeling the heat in other parts of the Muslim world as
well.
In Iraq, Christians have been attacked and many have fled their homes
for other lands. In Pakistan, a Christian woman faces a death sentence
for blasphemy for allegedly defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed.
On September 22, Iran's 11th Circuit Criminal Court of Appeals for the
Gilan Province upheld the death sentence and conviction of Nadarkhani
for apostasy.
More and more, the Iranian judiciary is departing from any recognized
form of due process, issuing arbitrary judgments based on vague,
open-ended laws.
Apostasy is the "act of renouncing one's religion," the human rights
group said Tuesday, but it "is not a crime under Iran's Islamic Penal
Code. Instead, the presiding judge in Nadarkhani's case rested his
opinion on texts by Iranian religious scholars."
"It is the low point of any judicial system to sentence a person to
death outside of its own legal framework," said Aaron Rhodes, a
spokesman for the campaign.
"To execute someone based on the religion they choose to practice or
not practice is the ultimate form of religious discrimination and
disregard for the freedom of conscience and belief."
The judgment said Nadarkhani was born to Muslim parents but converted
to Christianity when he was age 19 and it said that "during
interrogations Nadarkhani made a written confession admitting he left
Islam for Christianity."
He said during his trial that his "interrogators pressured him into
making the statement," the campaign said.
"I am not an apostate. ... Prior to 19 years old I did not accept any
religion," Nadarkhani said at trial, according to the campaign.
Nadarkhani said he was coaxed by an interrogator into thinking "that a
person who is born to Muslim parents, and does not accept a religion
other than Islam before reaching the religious maturity age (15 for
males), is automatically a Muslim."
Nadarkhani's attorney on Sunday filed an objection to the sentence with
Iran's Supreme Court.
Two articles in the constitution grant Christians "the right to freely
worship and form religious societies" and another "obligates the
Iranian government to uphold the equality and human rights of
Christians."
The judge based his decision on constitutional provisions and
Revolutionary Court "civil procedures that instruct judges to consult
sources when there is no codified-law that addresses a matter,"
according to the campaign.
There is also a part of the penal code allowing "judges to draw upon
their personal knowledge when adjudicating cases."
"More and more, the Iranian judiciary is departing from any recognized
form of due process, issuing arbitrary judgments based on vague,
open-ended laws," said Rhodes. "Laws and evidence are increasingly
irrelevant and unrelated to judicial outcomes in Iran."
Leonard Leo, chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom, said the "draconian language in the verdict makes it very
clear that the Iranian authorities mean business. He could be executed
at any time. And for what? For being a Christian."
"We call upon the Obama administration and the international community
to use every means available, to raise this issue and demand the
unconditional release of Mr. Nadarkhani."
USCIRF officials said the last known execution of a Christian in Iran
for apostasy was 20 years ago this month.
The Rev. Hossein Soodmand -- a Muslim who converted to Christianity in
1964 and served pastor and evangelist in the Evangelical Christian
Church -- was arrested and charged with apostasy and insulting Islam as
a result of his own conversion and efforts to convert Muslims. He was
hanged in December 1990.
Also, there have been executions of people of the Baha'i faith in Iran,
including one charged with apostasy in 1998, the officials said.
In the Shiraz case, Firouz Sadegh-Khanjani told the campaign his
brother was arrested in June.
"Eight members of his congregation including his wife were arrested two
days later but were eventually released," he is quoted as saying.
"For several months he was in solitary confinement. We had no word from
him and he had no contact with his lawyer. He has been moved to
(prison) but we worry about the type of pressure he was under while in
solitary confinement."
After his release from solitary confinement, Behrouz Sadegh-Khanjani
and his lawyer, Mahmoud Taravatrooy, attended a hearing in which
"prosecutors sought to indict him for apostasy along with the crimes of
acting against national security, propaganda against the regime, and
insulting sanctities."
"We are most concerned with the apostasy charge," Taravatrooy said.
"That's where most of my energy has gone, to save him from death."
The clergyman's brother said Sadegh-Khanjani was born to Christian
parents and was never a Muslim, saying his mother is a Christian
immigrant from the Congo and his father converted before he was born.
"Technically speaking, the court should dismiss this charge," said
Taravatrooy, "but the judge has to review the accusations first."
Taravatrooy told the campaign that his office asked some top clerics to
issue opinions on apostasy under Islam.
Four Ayatollah's, including the late Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali
Montazeri, said that converting from Islam to one of the Abrahamic
religions, including Christianity, is not construed as apostasy and the
convert "should be treated the same way as people of other religions
would be," Taravatrooy said.
Behrouz Sadegh-Khanjani was under temporary detention June 6 after he
reported on a summons to the revolutionary court in Shiraz. At the
time, he was free on bail stemming from a December 2009 arrest.
But Sadegh-Khanjani's temporary detention order expired on October 18,
Taravatrooy said.
"Technically he is being held illegally," according to the campaign.