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Officials cite lack of evidence, say man accused of apostasy to be freed soon

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan court on Sunday dismissed a case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity because of a lack of evidence and he will be released soon, officials said.

The announcement came as U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai faced mounting foreign pressure to free Abdul Rahman, a move that risked angering Muslim clerics who have called for him to be killed.

An official closely involved with the case told The Associated Press that it had been returned to the prosecutors for more investigation, but that in the meantime, Rahman would be released.

“The court dismissed today the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case,” the official said Sunday, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

“The decision about his release will be taken possibly tomorrow,” the official added. “They don’t have to keep him in jail while the attorney general is looking into the case.”

Abdul Wakil Omeri, a spokesman for the Supreme Court, confirmed that the case had been dismissed because of “problems with the prosecutors’ evidence.”

He said several family members of Rahman have testified that he has mental problems.

“It is the job of the attorney general’s office to decide if he is mentally fit to stand trial,” he told AP.

A Western diplomat, also declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case, said questions were being raised as to whether Rahman would stay in Afghanistan or go into exile in a foreign country.

Rahman is being prosecuted under Afghanistan’s Islamic laws for converting 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Afghans protest convert's release


KABUL, Afghanistan — Hundreds of people protested in a northern Afghan city Monday against a decision to free a man who faced a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity, officials said.

About 700 people, including Muslim clerics, gathered in central Mazar-e-Sharif, chanting "Death to Bush" and other anti-Western slogans, a day after a court announced it had dropped its case against Abdul Rahman, said police commander Nasruddin Hamdrad.

Security forces surrounded the demonstrators but did not intervene.

Muslim clerics have denounced the decision to release Rahman, 41, who became a Christian in the 1990s while working for an aid group in neighbouring Pakistan. They say he has clearly violated Islamic laws and must be killed.

The religious leaders have called for protests across the country against both the government and the West, which had pressured President Hamid Karzai's administration to drop the case.

Canadian officials have expressed concern and Prime Minister Stephen Harper discussed the issue with Karzai last week.

Afghan Christian Seeking Asylum

Mar 27, 1:40 PM (ET)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An Afghan man who faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity has appealed for asylum in another country, the United Nations said Monday. U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards said the world body was working with the Afghan government to meet the request by Abdul Rahman, 41.

"Mr. Rahman has asked for asylum outside Afghanistan," Edwards said. "We expect this will be provided by one of the countries interested in a peaceful solution to this case."

Afghan Christian Seeking Asylum (http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060327/D8GK33B80.html)

Afghan Christian convert released from jail

Kabul - Abdul Rahman, an Afghan national who was on trial for having converted to Christianity in violation of Afghanistan's strict Islamic code was released from prison in Kabul, confirmed the attorney general's office Tuesday.

Under the Sharia Islamic code, Abdul Rahman, 40, could have been sentenced to death after admitting that he converted from Islam to Christianity.

It was unclear if Rahman was declared mentally unfit to stand trial before he was released. On Sunday, the case was referred to the prosecutor, directing him to investigate further the defendant's psychological state.

'Presently he (Rahman) is under medical check up and if any time it is diagnosed that he is fit we will restart the proceedings against him. According to the law we do have the right to try him, if he is found not sick,' Mohammad Eshaq Aloko, the deputy attorney general told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Under Islamic Sharia law, on which the Afghan judicial system is based, the case could only proceed if Rahman is found mentally fit.

'Abdul Rahman's case was completed, punishment was requested, the case was sent to the court, the court tried him and found that Abdul Rahman is not normal, he has psychological problems and that there were some other problems such as dual citizenship,' said Aloko.

'Following the courts decision and according to the penal code, we announced the release and sent a letter to the justice ministry.'

Aloko said his office was under no external influence to drop the case.

'Our prosecutors and judges received no pressure from anyone, but the international pressures and media made this small issue enlarged,' he said.

There were outcries from the US, the European Union, and even Pope Benedict XVI to pardon the Christian convert.

Rahman was arrested in early February in the Afghan capital Kabul after his wife filed a complaint in a child custody dispute, accusing him of rejecting Islam.

He converted to Christianity 16 years ago, and is believed to have been living in Germany since then.

Earlier Tuesday, the United Nations said Rahman was seeking asylum outside Afghanistan.

'Mr. Abdul Rahman has asked for asylum outside Afghanistan. We expect that this will be provided by one of the countries interested in a peaceful solution to this case,' the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan said in a statement.

Aloko said 'we will catch him through Interpol and will prosecute him' if Rahman is proven fit to stand trial after he is given asylum and leaves the country.

On Monday, hundreds of Afghan civilians in the northern province of Balkh demonstrated against the possible release of Rahman. Local police said that the demonstrators were chanting 'justice, we want justice from Karzai.'

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - An Afghan man who had faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity quickly vanished Tuesday after he was released from prison, apparently out of fear for his life with Muslim clerics still demanding his death.

Italy's Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said he would ask his government to grant Abdul Rahman asylum. Fini was among the first to speak out on the man's behalf.

Rahman, 41, was released from the high-security Policharki prison on the outskirts of Kabul late Monday, Afghan Justice Minister Mohammed Sarwar Danish told The Associated Press.

"We released him last night because the prosecutors told us to," he said. "His family was there when he was freed, but I don't know where he was taken."

Deputy Attorney-General Mohammed Eshak Aloko said prosecutors had issued a letter calling for Rahman's release because "he was mentally unfit to stand trial." He also said he did not know where Rahman had gone after being released.

He said Rahman may be sent overseas for medical treatment.

On Monday, hundreds of clerics, students and others chanting "Death to Christians!" marched through the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif to protest the court decision Sunday to dismiss the case. Several Muslim clerics threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he is freed, saying that he is clearly guilty of apostasy and deserves to die.

"Abdul Rahman must be killed. Islam demands it," said senior Cleric Faiez Mohammed, from the nearby northern city of Kunduz. "The Christian foreigners occupying Afghanistan are attacking our religion."

Rahman was arrested last month after police discovered him with a Bible during a custody dispute over his two daughters. He was put on trial last week for converting 16 years ago while he was a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He faced the death penalty under Afghanistan's Islamic laws.

The case set off an outcry in the United States and other nations that helped oust the hard-line Taliban regime in late 2001 and provide aid and military support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. President Bush and others had insisted Afghanistan protect personal beliefs.

U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards said Rahman has asked for asylum outside Afghanistan.

"We expect this will be provided by one of the countries interested in a peaceful solution to this case," he said.

Fini, the Italian foreign minister who is also deputy premier, will seek permission to grant Rahman asylum at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, a Foreign Ministry statement said.

Fini had earlier expressed Italy's "indignation" over the case. Pope Benedict XVI also appealed to Karzai to protect Rahman.

Italy has close ties with Afghanistan, whose former king, Mohammed Zaher Shah, was allowed to live with his family in exile in Rome for 30 years. The former royals returned to Kabul after the fall of the Taliban regime a few years ago.

Asked whether the U.S. government was doing anything to secure Rahman's safety after his release, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington that where he goes after being freed is "up to Mr. Rahman." He urged Afghans not to resort to violence even if they are unhappy with the resolution of the case.

The international outrage over Rahman's case put Karzai in a difficult position because he also risked offending religious sensibilities in Afghanistan, where senior Muslim clerics have been united in calling for Rahman to be executed.

Brother Roger, this is a literal case of biting the hand that feeds you. This should give the world a CLUE about what Islam really wants, and there is no doubt in my mind that Islam will pursue what it wants around the world.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 16:8 NASB  I have set the LORD continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.