When I heard about this story I just could not believe it!
By Jody Brown
March 22, 2006(AgapePress) - An appeal from the White House. Tens of thousands of e-mails urging President Bush to intervene. International reaction expressing concern for religious freedom. All of these are in response to the plight of an Afghan man who, because he converted from Islam to Christianity, faces possible execution if found guilty by a court in Kabul.
Forty-one-year-old Abdul Rahman reportedly accepted Christ as his Savior 16 years ago while working with an international Christian ministry helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. After several years in Germany, he returned to Kabul — and last month, after being found in possession of a Bible, confessed to becoming a Christian.
Afghanistan’s constitution guarantees religious liberty — but because it is based on Shariah law, many Muslims interpret that to mean that any Muslim who rejects Islam be sentenced to death. Rahman’s trial began last week, and is under close international scrutiny. He has refused to renounce his conversion to Christianity, even with a promise from prosecutors that charges would be dropped if he did so.
Associated Press now reports that the Afghan Christian may be deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. Prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari says “We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn’t talk like a normal person.” If examined and found to be mentally unfit, says a religious advisor to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Islam would have “no claim to punish him” and charges would be dropped.
AP cites sources who report that the question of Rahman’s possible mental fitness may indicate the Afghan government, sensitive to the international reaction, is desperately searching for a way to drop the case.
Meanwhile, the United States, Britain, and other countries — some with troops in Afghanistan — have voiced concern about the trial. AP says Italy’s foreign minister has summoned the Afghan ambassador in Rome and may ask the European Union to intercede on behalf of Rahman. Germany’s foreign minister told a newspaper that he views the case with “great concern” and that German diplomats in Kabul have been in contact with Afghan officials about Rahman’s case. On Tuesday the Bush administration, being careful not to interfere with Afghanistan’s sovereignty, appealed to Kabul to allow Rahman to practice his faith in his home country. And today, ABC is reporting that Australia plans to lobby Afghanistan on behalf of Rahman.
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/3/222006a.asp
