Judge stands firm in Christian covert case

AFGHANISTAN’S judiciary will not bow to outside pressure over the fate of a man who faces the death penalty for converting to Christianity, a judge dealing with the case said yesterday.

US President George W Bush said he was deeply troubled by the case of Abdur Rahman, who an Afghan judge said this week had been jailed for converting from Islam to Christianity and could face death if he refused to become a Muslim again.

Death is one of the punishments stipulated by sharia, or Islamic law, for apostasy. The Afghan legal system is based on a mix of civil and sharia law.

“Afghanistan is an Islamic country and its judiciary will act independently and neutrally,” Supreme Court Judge Ansarullah Mawlavizada said. “No other policy will be accepted apart from Islamic orders and what our constitution says,” Mawlavizada said, adding he was saddened by the international outcry.

The case is sensitive for President Hamid Karzai who depends on foreign troops to battle Taliban and al-Qaida militants, and aid to support the economy, but also has to consider views of conservative proponents of Islamic law. Several countries supporting Afghanistan with troops and aid, including the United States, Canada, Italy and Germany, as well as the United Nations, have raised concern about Mr Rahman’s fate and called for freedom of religion.

Mr Rahman, 40, has yet to be formally charged. A prosecutor raised questions about his mental state and a cabinet minister said he would not be executed if he were found to be unstable.

Mr Rahman told a preliminary hearing last week he became a Christian while working for an aid group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan 15 years ago.

“I’m not an apostate. I’m obedient to God, but I’m a Christian, that’s my choice,” Mr Rahman told the hearing. He also said he was not mentally ill and would defend himself.

Analysts say the case could hinge on interpretations of the country’s new constitution, which says “no law can be contrary to the sacred religion of Islam and the values of the constitution”.

It also says Afghanistan will abide by international agreements, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrines freedom of religion, including the freedom to change one’s religion.

The US, which counts Mr Karzai a key ally, has raised the case with Afghanistan.

“It is deeply troubling that a country we helped liberate would hold a person to account because they chose a particular religion over another,” Mr Bush said on Wednesday. “We have got influence in Afghanistan and we are going to use it to remind them that there are universal values,” he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Mr Karzai assured him “that respect for human and religious rights will be fully upheld”.

Canada has 2,500 troops in the southern city of Kandahar and commands a NATO mission there.

Judge Mawlavizada, who presided over the preliminary hearing, said proceedings against Mr Rahman would begin in the next few days.