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2008-07-10 20:42:00 UTC
A plan is being discussed by lawmakers in Iran that would require the death
penalty for anyone who leaves Islam for Christianity or someone who
promotes such a conversion even on the Internet, according to a new report
from Compass Direct News.
Those discussions of a penal code that was drafted earlier this year bring
urgency to situations such as the two men arrested recently and under
interrogation for that very crime, the report said.
The report said Iranian authorities arrested a number of converts to
Christianity in the city of Shiraz about two months ago on suspicion of
"apostasy."
Arash Bandari, 44, and Mahmood Matin, 52, were arrested at the time along
with 13 other Muslim converts to Christianity. But while the other 13 were
told they have a court case pending and then released, Bandari and Matin
have been held ever since.
The 13 who have been released have not been told of any specific charges,
but they report the nature of their questioning gives them reason to think
the allegations may include apostasy and political crimes.
The other two, Bandari and Matin, have been held almost incommunicado.
Matin's wife was able to see him for several minutes on June 24, when the
prisoner told his wife "there had been a misunderstanding and that he
could not teach Christianity any more," Compass reported.
"They are pushing me to tell them that I am connected to a church outside
[Iran] and that I am receiving a salary, but I told them that I am doing
it on my own," he said, according to a Compass source whose identity was
concealed.
Compass noted that under the existing sharia laws in Iran, the death
penalty is available for the crime of apostasy, but not required.
The proposal, however, would change that.
"If passed, the penal code drafted last January would require execution of
any Muslim who converts to Christianity," Compass said. Such punishments
could not be "changed, reduced or annulled."
"Many believe that the government intends to use the proposed penal code
to clamp down on the surge in conversions in Iran over the last few years.
Commentators have called the surge a 'mass exodus' from Islam, which in
its Iranian Shiite version imposes harsh limitations on lifestyle and
personal freedoms," Compass reported.
Iran's Members of Parliament voted only a week ago to discuss the plan as
a priority, according to Agence France-Press, which described the proposal
as to "toughen punishment for harming mental security in society."
Alarmingly, the report also documented that the death penalty would be
imposed for "establishing weblogs and sites promotion corruption,
prostitution and apostasy."
"Over the last few years, the Internet and media such as television have
been conduits of information on Christianity and are feared as sources of
'corruption' of the Iranian people," Compass reported. "The Internet is
widely used in Iran despite restricted access for thousands of websites
with 'immoral' content or content - including Christian ones - deemed as
insulting religion and promoting political dissent."
Executions in Iran totaled 317 in 2007, up from 177 in 2006, and human
rights groups say such punishments are excessive. Tehran insists death is
an "effective deterrent," according to AFP.
"Christians in particular have suffered persecution in Iran since the
Islamic revolution in 1979. No converts to Christianity have been
convicted of 'apostasy' since international pressure forced officials to
drop the death sentence of Christian convert Mehdi Dibaj in 1994. But in
the years following the convert's release, Dibaj and four other Protestant
pastors, including converts and those working with converts, have been
brutally murdered," Compass said.
The attackers in those cases never have been brought to justice.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=69158
I thought it already was mandatory? There must be some sort of legal penaltypenalty for anyone who leaves Islam for Christianity or someone who
promotes such a conversion even on the Internet, according to a new report
from Compass Direct News.
Those discussions of a penal code that was drafted earlier this year bring
urgency to situations such as the two men arrested recently and under
interrogation for that very crime, the report said.
The report said Iranian authorities arrested a number of converts to
Christianity in the city of Shiraz about two months ago on suspicion of
"apostasy."
Arash Bandari, 44, and Mahmood Matin, 52, were arrested at the time along
with 13 other Muslim converts to Christianity. But while the other 13 were
told they have a court case pending and then released, Bandari and Matin
have been held ever since.
The 13 who have been released have not been told of any specific charges,
but they report the nature of their questioning gives them reason to think
the allegations may include apostasy and political crimes.
The other two, Bandari and Matin, have been held almost incommunicado.
Matin's wife was able to see him for several minutes on June 24, when the
prisoner told his wife "there had been a misunderstanding and that he
could not teach Christianity any more," Compass reported.
"They are pushing me to tell them that I am connected to a church outside
[Iran] and that I am receiving a salary, but I told them that I am doing
it on my own," he said, according to a Compass source whose identity was
concealed.
Compass noted that under the existing sharia laws in Iran, the death
penalty is available for the crime of apostasy, but not required.
The proposal, however, would change that.
"If passed, the penal code drafted last January would require execution of
any Muslim who converts to Christianity," Compass said. Such punishments
could not be "changed, reduced or annulled."
"Many believe that the government intends to use the proposed penal code
to clamp down on the surge in conversions in Iran over the last few years.
Commentators have called the surge a 'mass exodus' from Islam, which in
its Iranian Shiite version imposes harsh limitations on lifestyle and
personal freedoms," Compass reported.
Iran's Members of Parliament voted only a week ago to discuss the plan as
a priority, according to Agence France-Press, which described the proposal
as to "toughen punishment for harming mental security in society."
Alarmingly, the report also documented that the death penalty would be
imposed for "establishing weblogs and sites promotion corruption,
prostitution and apostasy."
"Over the last few years, the Internet and media such as television have
been conduits of information on Christianity and are feared as sources of
'corruption' of the Iranian people," Compass reported. "The Internet is
widely used in Iran despite restricted access for thousands of websites
with 'immoral' content or content - including Christian ones - deemed as
insulting religion and promoting political dissent."
Executions in Iran totaled 317 in 2007, up from 177 in 2006, and human
rights groups say such punishments are excessive. Tehran insists death is
an "effective deterrent," according to AFP.
"Christians in particular have suffered persecution in Iran since the
Islamic revolution in 1979. No converts to Christianity have been
convicted of 'apostasy' since international pressure forced officials to
drop the death sentence of Christian convert Mehdi Dibaj in 1994. But in
the years following the convert's release, Dibaj and four other Protestant
pastors, including converts and those working with converts, have been
brutally murdered," Compass said.
The attackers in those cases never have been brought to justice.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=69158
associated w/renouncing Islam. What is it currently?