What remains to be seen is if the new trial becomes an opportunity to formally pile on all of the imaginative new accusations leveled against Joseph Nadarkhani in the past month as international attention and opposition to his death sentence for apostasy have grown.
An update on this story. "With pressure mounting, Iranian Supreme Court could rehear pastor’s case," by Dan Merica for CNN, October 13:
Washington (CNN)–Should Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani's case be returned to the Supreme Court of Iran, that country's highest court has agreed to review it, according to the pastor's lawyer.
Mohammad Dadkah, Nadarkhani's lawyer, confirmed the Supreme Court's statement in a Thursday conversation with CNN. The reversal is a minor victory for the two-year-old legal battle; the Supreme Court passed on hearing the case in 2010.
Nadarkhani, the leader of a network of house churches in Iran, was first convicted of apostasy in November 2010 for changing from a Muslim to a Christian. He was sentenced to death.
He subsequently appealed the conviction all the way to the high court. The Supreme Court passed the trial back down to the lower court and, in an appeals trial last month in Gilan province, Nadarkhani refused to recant his beliefs.
Nadarkhani's ordeal has drawn international attention, becoming a cause celebre for a number of Christian organizations in the United States and abroad. Many of these groups took to Facebook, Twitter and their own websites in an attempt to energize their followers to protest the pastor's treatment.
Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, an organization that has regularly updated its followers on the status of the case, said once the international community got a word of this case, voices were raised high enough that Iran began to feel the pressure. [...]
But according to Harris Zafar, national spokesman for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, it is "unnerving" that one distinct voice is missing from pleas to Iran.
"I think what is really missing is a strong Muslim voice," Zafar said. "I am a bit surprised that there aren't more Muslims up in arms about this. Perhaps it is quiet, passive, acceptance."...
For background information on Islamic apostasy laws, see links under APOSTASY at
http://crombouke.blogspot.com/2010/01/everything-you-need-to-know-about-islam.html
"Iran says execution is right way, because BBC criticizes it"
http://en.trend.az/news/society/1944751.html
As expressed in earlier posts. Tehran will not execute this man. They know this Christian Pastor's execution, will mean global condemnation that will not benefit Iran's diplomacy, especially with allied secular and Christian nations.
Tehran is trying every which way, not to execute this man and at the same time, save it's compelling, Islamic Shari'ah Law face. A dillema they didn't need at THIS TIME.
. .may I add, Domenick, a dillema that they must resolve by letting the good man Nadarkhani go free.
. .may I add, Jim, a dillema that they must resolve by getting rid of more than 35 thousand hate verses and hadiths from their "sacred" books.
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2010/05/accursed-book-le-livre-maudit.html
New trial. Same Sharia. So, same sentence.
If international pressure compels the Iranians to release the good Pastor, he should get on the next jet out of the country. Otherwise, he's not long for this world. An "accident" or murder via "unknown suspect" will solve the Iranians of their problem...while absolving them of responsibility.
Iranian pastor facing death sentence for apostasy may get new trial
What remains to be seen is if the new trial becomes an opportunity to formally pile on all of the imaginative new accusations leveled against Joseph Nadarkhani in the past month as international attention and opposition to his death sentence for apostasy have grown.
.....................................
True. This *may* be a chance for Iran to let Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani go while "saving face"—or it may be a chance for them to execute the poor man on trumped-up charges.
More:
But according to Harris Zafar, national spokesman for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, it is "unnerving" that one distinct voice is missing from pleas to Iran.
"I think what is really missing is a strong Muslim voice," Zafar said. "I am a bit surprised that there aren't more Muslims up in arms about this. Perhaps it is quiet, passive, acceptance."...
.....................................
The oppressed and violently persecuted Ahmadiyya—if they were being honest—would understand this better than anyone...