Yusuf Nadarkhani, a 32-year-old pastor of the evangelical Church of Iran, converted to Christianity from Islam at 19. He was arrested in October 2009 when he tried to register a house church in Rasht, his hometown in Gilan province, and then was sentenced to death by hanging for apostasy, or conversion away from Islam. Under Iran’s Sharia law, apostasy is punishable by death, but can be overturned if the convicted person renounces his conversion.
With his wife released on appeal from her life imprisonment sentence, Nadarkhani appealed as well, but his conviction was upheld in September 2010. He then tried the Supreme Court, which according to his lawyer, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, proved successful.
“The Supreme Court has annulled the death sentence and sent the case back to the court in Rasht, asking the accused to repent,” said Dadkhah.
While sending the case back to court usually indicates a retrial, it is unclear what it means in this case. The Rasht court session may be the space where Nadarkhani, who is currently being held in Lakan prison near Rasht, is to “repent.” However, there has been no comment as to whether he will.
Dadkhah was told of the Supreme Court decision over the phone. He must travel to Rasht to read it. It may then be clear if Nadarkhani is to be re-tired or just given the opportunity to repent.
Dadkhah himself was just sentenced to prison last week. He was given nine years in jail and a decade-long ban on the practice of law and university-teaching for “actions and propaganda against the Islamic regime.”
Dadkhah says his work with Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi’s organization, the Center for Defense of Human Rights, and his interviews with foreign media were behind his case.