Afghanistan: Christian converts face Islamic death penalty

Speroforum.com - Two Afghans have been arrested and may face death penalty for allegedly converting to Christianity. “They are accused of conversion to another religion, which is considered a crime under Islamic law. If proved, they face the death penalty or life imprisonment,” said Din Mohammad Quraishi, prosecutor in charge of western Kabul.

Quraishi said Sayed (45), who works for the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) had already confessed and there was “proof” against Shah (50).

The two were arrested in late May and early June after local television broadcast footage of men reciting Christian prayers in Farsi and being baptized, apparently in a house in Kabul. Meanwhile, ICRC’s spokesman in Kabul Bijan Frederic Farnoudi has confirmed Sayed’s arrest.

Farnoudi said ICRC representatives had visited Sayed in prison and “intends to visit him in future.”

Sayed has been working for the organization since 1995.

The Afghan constitution, adopted after the fall of the hardline Islamic Taliban in late 2001, forbids conversion to another religion from Islam and in theory can sentence those found guilty to death. The last conversion case to be tried in Afghanistan is believed to be that of Abdul Rahman, an Afghan man arrested in 2006 for converting to Christianity.

He was eventually released and granted refugee status in Italy after a wave of international human-rights protests.

Source: CathNews India