Christian Accused Of Apostasy On Trial In Afghanistan

ABDUL Rahman is on trial in Afghanistan for leaving Islam and becoming a Christian. The trial started last Thursday 16 March 2006.  The hearing is over but the judge may take some time (up to two months) to deliver his verdict.

Elizabeth Kendal of WEA RLC notes "There have been vigilante executions of apostates in Afghanistan in recent years. Between June and September 2004 five Afghan believers, including Mullah Assad Ullah, were stabbed or beaten to death in summary executions by Taliban adherents who accused them of abandoning Islam and then "spreading Christianity" in their communities."

Elizabeth continues "But the trial of Abdul Rahman is the first trial of its kind since the fall of the Taliban, and will be a test case for Afghanistan and for President Karzai."

Abdul has been a Christian for 16 years and lived outside the country for much of that time; he was back in the country over a custody issue about his daughters, as Elizabeth reports from an AP article.

The Age's report from today's paper reports on the actual trial but does not mention his conversion 16 years ago or his circumstances - Readers of this paper would think he had just converted to Islam and was a resident of Afghanistan....

One of our readers has noted that Afghanistan has been 're-established' by Coalition forces, particularly the USA. However the Constitution is based on the sharia which in turns allows for killing of apostates. The same situation applies in Iraq. At the same time the USA allows Islamic da'wa.

I have two media articles - then three Christian commentaries from Elizabeth Kendal (WEA RLC), Barnabas Fund and Breakpoint. These are included in full.

They encourage us to pray AND contact our political representatives about his case.

Australian Federal MPs and Senators details can be accessed from this website at http://www.saltshakers.org.au/html/P/13/B/82/

Barnabas Fund say "Please write to your elected representative to ask for urgent representations to be made to the Afghan government on behalf of Abdul Rahman. Point out that the Afghan constitution says that Afghanistan will respect the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees the freedom to change one’s faith. However if Abdul Rahman is sentenced to death this would be a clear violation of the Declaration. "

USA: please write to Gg. Bush : president@whitehouse.gov

UK: please write to Tony Blaire : go to www.number-10.gov.uk and e mail him via the web site.

Australia: please write to elected representatives via: www.saltshakers.org.au