The Reverend Yousef Na-darkhani has twice refused to recant his Christian faith during two court hearings held in Rasht, Gilan 5rovince on Sunday and Monday of this week, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
The organization said sources told it Monday that recanting would again be demanded at court sessions scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, and that, if he continues to refuse, he will be executed thereafter.
Pastor Nadarkhani was tried and found guilty of apostasy (abandoning Islam) last September by a court in Rasht. He was sentenced to die. At the appeal in June, the Supreme Court of Iran asked the trial court to re-examine whether he had been a practicing Muslim adult prior to converting to Christianity. The written verdict of the Supreme Court’s decision included provision for annulment of the death sentence if Pastor Nadarkhani recanted his faith.
Following investigation, the court in Rasht ruled that Nadarkhani was not a practicing Muslim adult before becoming a Christian. However, the court then decided that he remained guilty of apostasy because he has Muslim ancestry, Christian Solidarity reported.
Pastor Nadarkhani’s lawyer, Mohammed-Ali Dadkhah, told the court that the repeated demand for recanting is against both Iranian law and the Constitution. The court replied that the order of the Supreme Court must be applied, regardless of the legality of the demand.
Death for apostasy is not contained in the Iranian Penal Code. However, the judges in Rasht based their original verdict on fatvas issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi, and Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi, one of the most influential conservative religious leaders in the country.
Nadarkhani is a minister of the Church of Iran denomination. He was arrested in Rasht, his home city, October 13, 2009, while attempting to register his church. His arrest is believed to have been due to his questioning of the Muslim monopoly on the religious instruction of children in Iran.
He was initially charged with protesting; however the charges against him were later changed to apostasy and evangelizing Muslims.
His lawyer, Dadkhah, one of the few Iranian human rights defenders left, is also facing legal difficulties. In July, a court in Tehran sentenced him to nine years in jail and a 10-year ban on practicing law and teaching university courses for “actions and propaganda against the Islamic regime.” He is currently appealing the sentence and can continuing practicing for now.
Stuart Windsor, a leader of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said: “CSW is calling on key members of the international community to urgently raise Pastor Nadarkhani’s case with the Iranian authorities. His life depends on it, and we have grave concerns regarding due process in this case, and also in that of his lawyer, Mr. Dadkhah.”
Windsor said, “The verdict handed down to Pastor Nadar-khani is in violation of the international covenants to which Iran is a signatory, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICPPR), which guarantees freedom of religion and freedom to change one’s religion. It also violates Article 23 of the Iranian Constitution, which states that no-one should be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief.”
Article 23 is rarely cited by the authorities. It is very brief, stating simply: “The investigation of an individual’s beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief.”
