Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been sentenced to death for apostasy. (Photo: ACLJ)
(CNSNews.com) – An Iranian pastor who refuses to renounce his Christian faith could be hanged as soon as Wednesday, after a trial court ruling this week upheld his death sentence for “apostasy.”
Religious freedom advocates are calling urgently for governments to take up the case of Youcef Nadarkhani, a 32-year-old evangelical first sentenced to death late last year. If the sentence is carried out he will be the first Iranian Christian known to have been executed for his faith in 21 years.
Nadarkhani embraced Christianity at the age of 19, and since his Supreme Court appeal last June, proceedings focused on the question of whether he was a practicing Muslim at the time.
According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), although a court subsequently determined that he was not a practicing Muslim adult when he became a Christian “the court has decided that he remains guilty of apostasy because he has Muslim ancestry.”
Back in court on Sunday and Monday this week, Nadarkhani faced renewed pressure to disavow his faith, on pain on death. CSW cited sources close the case as saying two more sessions have been scheduled, for Tuesday and Wednesday – and “if he continues to refuse, he will be executed thereafter.”
Nadarkhani’s lawyer, Mohammed Ali Dadkhah, has argued that the demand for his client to recant violates Iranian law and the constitution.
However, CSW reported that “the court replied that the verdict of the Supreme Court must be applied, regardless of the illegality of the demand.”
“CSW is calling on key members of the international community to urgently raise Pastor Nadarkhani’s case with the Iranian authorities,” said CSW special ambassador Stuart Windsor. “His life depends on it.” Read the rest on:
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