The Story: Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani faces
imminent execution for charges of abandoning Islam and refusing to
recant his Christian faith, the American Center for Law and Justice reports.
The 34-year-old husband and father of two, whose case was temporarily
delayed in December, may now be executed at any moment without warning,
according to a new---and apparently final---trial court verdict.
Unfortunately, many of the details surrounding the case remain unclear.
The Background: Pastor Nadarkhani's clash with the
Iranian government began in 2006 when he was briefly imprisoned on
charges of apostasy and evangelism. In 2009 he was arrested for
protesting mandated Islamic instruction in his son's school. This
charge, however, was soon changed to fit his original "crimes" of
apostasy and evangelism.
Nadarkhani was sentenced to death in September 2010 but proceeded to
remain alive in prison. In July 2011, his lawyer received a written
verdict from the Iranian Supreme Court, which upheld the death sentence
yet included a provision for annulment should the pastor recant his
faith. In September 2011, the Commission on International Religious
Freedom and even President Obama issued statements denouncing Iran's
egregious human rights breach and demanding Nadarkhani's immediate
release. Continue at Matt Smethurst
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