Telegraph: Christians in Iran need support from the West

While the pending execution of Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has garnered some attention in the U.S. press over the last day or two, this article from the U.K. Telegraph calls attention not only to the present case, but also to the plight of all Christians in Iran and the urgent need for Western support.

For the first time in 20 years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has issued a formal death sentence for a Christian. Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, leader of the Church of Iran denomination in Rasht, was arrested in October 2009 while seeking to register his church. He has been on death row since being found guilty of apostasy, conversion from Islam, in September 2010. 

Pastor Nadarkhani’s appeal came to a conclusion on Wednesday, September 28. Iran's Supreme Court had refused to overturn his death sentence, referring his case back to local judges in Rasht to decide whether Nadarkhani had been a practising Muslim before converting to Christianity, something which Nadarkhani denied. Judges in Rasht ruled that although Nadarkhani had not been a practising Muslim, his Islamic heritage made him guilty of apostasy. 

Although apostasy does not carry a formal death penalty under Iran’s penal code, judges in Rasht were able to use the supremacy of Islamic jurisprudence in Iran’s constitution to sue for the death sentence based on religious fatwas, or Islamic rulings, by leading Ayatollahs. 

If he is executed, Pastor Nadarkhani will leave behind a wife and two small children. His lawyer awaits the written verdict of his death sentence. This process could take a week, but commentators inside Iran suggest that it could be much shorter or that he may be executed without formal notice. Reports that Mr Nadarkhani’s lawyer, a prominent human rights activist who faces jail for his work, has received verbal notice of the annulment of Nadarkhani’s death sentence have been firmly denied inside Iran. It is thought that such rumours may be being propagated by the regime in order to deflect international condemnation. 

There have been over 300 arrests of Christians in 35 cities across Iran since June 2010. Detainees are typically held in unsanitary prisons, sometimes in solitary confinement, with evidence of torture and interrogation tactics being used against them on account of their faith. Excessively high bail demands, some as great as $30,000, see title deeds to detainees’ houses being given in return for their liberty. Those inmates whose families cannot meet these demands, such as Pastor Farshid Fathi, who was detained in a brutal crackdown against evangelical Christians over Christmas of last year, remain detained. 

The high profile case of Hashem Aghajani in 2002 is an example of how the theocratic dictates of the regime can be used to stifle political debate in addition to religious freedom and demonstrate how apostasy is both a political and religious tool and thus a sentencing risk to all. Aghajani was a history professor at one of Tehran’s universities and a survivor of the Iran-Iraq war with an “impeccable” revolutionary reputation. Aghajani was sentenced to be hanged after he gave a speech in Hamedan during which he called for the reformation of Islam and questioned the role of clerics in Iran’s leadership. His statements were understood to have directly threatened the regime and, by definition, to have demonstrated the renunciation of ‘true’ faith. 

Within this subjective sphere of rights, where political and religious allegiance is enmeshed, religious deviance from the status quo is as much of a political statement, as political nonconformity is deemed an act against God. The charge for apostasy, whether framed through a political or a religious lens is the same: a possible death sentence dependent on the whim, character, belief or political context of the decision of a local judge. 

It is time for the West to recognise that religious belief is not some sort of additional right less essential than those based on race, ethnicity, political allegiance or gender. Religious faith as much as political belief is based on conviction, not on luxury. Furthermore, in a state like Iran where theocracy governs, freedom of belief is tantamount to freedom of political self-determination. 

There must be intervention sooner on behalf of religious detainees and greater awareness of the theological underpinnings and legal uses of apostasy for members of theocratic societies. In addition, there must be greater cohesion to ensure that international covenants such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a signatory, are upheld.

Meanwhile, late word from Iran is that the authorities are trying to cover for their gross violation of human rights by smearing Pastor Youcef.

Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani will be put to death for several charges of rape and extortion, charges that differ greatly from his original sentence of apostasy, the semi official Fars News agency reported Friday. 

In a translated Iranian Supreme Court brief from 2010 the charge of apostasy, however, is the only charge leveled against Nadarkhani. 

"Mr. Youcef Nadarkhani, son of Byrom, 32 years old, married, born in Rasht in the state of Gilan is convicted of turning his back on Islam, the greatest religion the prophesy of Mohammad at the age of 19," reads the brief. 

The brief was obtained by CNN from the American Center for Law and Justice and was translated from its original Farsi by the Confederation of Iranian Students in Washington.   

It goes on to say that during the court proceeding, Nadarkhani denied the prophecy of Mohammad and the authority of Islam. 

"He (Nadarkhani) has stated that he is a Christian and no longer Muslim," states the brief. "During many sessions in court with the presence of his attorney and a judge, he has been sentenced to execution by hanging according to article 8 of Tahrir - olvasileh." 

Mohammadali Dadkhah, the pastor's lawyer, said though a translator that even in light of the Fars News report, he does not believe Nadarkhani will be put to death. "The case is still in progress," Dadkhah said. "There's a 95% that he won't get the death penalty. Yes I still believe that." 

Dadkhah spoke briefly of the trial proceedings, stating that he presented documents to the court that should be convincing, including documents from Shi'ite leaders that state the crime does not warrant the possible punishment. 

"This is a legal process that should take its course, and it should stand, on its own merits. It should succeed," said Dadkhah. Nadarkhani, the leader of a network of house churches in Iran, was first convicted of apostasy in November 2010, a charge he subsequently appealed all the way to the Iranian Supreme Court. After four days of an appeals trial that started Sunday at a lower court in Gilan Province, Nadarkhani refused to recant his beliefs. 

Fars News is reporting, however, "this issue has nothing to do with his abandoning his religion." The Fars News report did not elaborate on the charges of rape and extortion. 

The possible execution of Nadarkhani has elicited responses from the highest levels of the United States government, too. 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a statement Friday that said the United States stands with "all Iranians against the Iranian government's hypocritical statements and actions." 

The White House released a statement on Thursday, stating Nadarkhani "has done nothing more than maintain his devout faith, which is a universal right for people." 

"That the Iranian authorities would try to force him to renounce that faith violates the religious values they claim to defend, crosses all bounds of decency and breaches Iran's own international obligations," read the statement. 

Leonard Leo, chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, says a trial for apostasy in Iran is rare. According to him, this is the first apostasy trial since 1990. 

Nadarkhani's trial and his possible execution have engaged American Christians, as well. Todd Nettleton, spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs, a Christian organization that attempts to assist with persecuted and minority churches around the world, called the news of the new charges proof that international attention on the issue is working. 

"They are feeling the attention, they are feeling the weight of the eyes of the world watching how they are treating this man," Nettleton said. "I am dumbfounded, though that at this stage in the game, this is what they would trot out." 

Voice of the Martyrs manages a Facebook page that has brought a lot of attention to Nadarkhani's trial. With comments updated by the minute, thousand of people have taken to Facebook to spread the word about the pastor. 

In light of this news, Nettleton said the Facebook page would continue to be active. 

"I think our first response will be prayer for pastor Youcef," Nettleton said. "Prayer that justice will be done and that he will remain faithful no matter that the days ahead may bring for him."