Posted on 03/20/2006 5:57:18 AM PST by standingfirm
KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan man who allegedly converted from Islam to Christianity is being prosecuted in a Kabul court and could be sentenced to death, a judge said Sunday.
The defendant, Abdul Rahman, was arrested last month after his family went to the police and accused him of becoming a Christian, Judge Ansarullah Mawlavezada told the Associated Press in an interview. Such a conversion would violate the country's Islamic laws.
Rahman, who is believed to be 41, was charged with rejecting Islam when his trial started last week, the judge said.
During the hearing, the defendant allegedly confessed that he converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago when he was 25 and working as a medical aid worker for Afghan refugees in neighboring Pakistan, Mawlavezada said.
Afghanistan's constitution is based on Shariah law, which states that any Muslim who rejects their religion should be sentenced to death.
"We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law," the judge said. "It is an attack on Islam. ... The prosecutor is asking for the death penalty." The prosecutor, Abdul Wasi, said the case was the first of its kind in Afghanistan.
He said that he had offered to drop the charges if Rahman changed his religion back to Islam, but the defendant refused.
Mawlavezada said he would rule on the case within two months.
Afghanistan is a deeply conservative society and 99 percent of its 28 million people are Muslim. The rest are mainly Hindus.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I think the President needs to call Karzai and I think WE need to keep this in the blogosphere and get this the attention it deserves.
I know why we are there, supposedly to establish "democracy" in the Middle East. Um, excuse me, this is not democracy. It's Sharia law. What's the difference between this and the Taliban? To me, not much.
Religion of Peace®
Under the Taliban, himself, his family and his village would have been immediately liquidated...At least they are talking about it - it is some progress.
Really, we just need to send some troops and kill Judge Ansarullah Mawlavezada in a very messy and public way. It would just be a quick lesson on proper behavior for a nation we just liberated.
Pres Bush should confer US citizenship on Abdul Rahman. Then our diplomatis will press for his release from Afghan prison and facilitate his emigration to the US, if he wishes to relocate.
Good idea. If it were me, I'd leave the country.
Agreed this is "some progress" but to those of us who are impatient and want everything settled in a few years or less, it is extremely frustrating.
Thanks for posting.
Yeah, right. There is 2 billion of them in line, you know.
We shouldn't have to do this for every person that wants to convert.
I think we have the makings of a real Christian martyr.
And immigration will reject his citizenship based on a felony conviction. In a foreign court, he has been found guilty of a capital offense, hence, he is not entitled to immigrate to the U.S. He cannot claim refugee status since the U.S. has liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban, the oppressive regime. Sadly, U.S. policy is permitting this farce in 'liberated' Afghanistan. As much as I support our efforts being over there, it is not right for the U.S. to permit this savagery. Is this the "freedom" our good men volunteered to protect and die for?
I like your idea. What can we do about it here on FR?
This is unacceptable in a country we've given so much treasure and blood to. Bush needs to step up to the plate on this and get the Afghans in line. If we are going to fight for democracy in the world, we might as well fight.
Hmmmm...laws that are right or wrong must be obeyed....hmmmm.... Hits home doesn't it?
This isn't progress no matter how you see it. There isn't much difference between this and the taliban.
This is strange considering that their nation anthem is "Onward Christian Soldiers".
I constantly vacilate between your view and Air Power
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