Iran: Christian pastor jailed for apostasy facing new charges of "banditry" and "extortion"

Iran is piling new charges on Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani in order to shield itself from any possible international criticism over jailing (and planning to execute) him for apostasy.

"'Banditry and Extortion' Replace 'Apostasy' Charges for Christian Pastor!," from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, August 17 (thanks to David):

Youcef Nadarkhani, a Christian pastor accused of apostasy will be put on a new trial on August 27. Nadarkhani, who refused to repent from being a Christian in earlier judicial proceedings and faces a death sentence, is now facing the new charges of “banditry and extortion.”
The Christian pastor’s earlier charges were “apostasy” and “converting to Christianity,” but the new charges of “banditry and extortion” were first mentioned last year on Fars News Agency. A source close to the case of Youcef Nadarkhani who wishes to remain anonymous on security grounds told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that, “Mr. Nadarkhani’s ‘banditry’ charges are fundamentally meaningless; he is not a thief or a bandit. This is a new accusation leveled against him for unknown reasons.”

Youcef Nadarkhani, 33, was born to Muslim parents and converted to Christianity at the age of 19. Prior to his arrest, he led a congregation of about 400 Christians in the Northern city of Rasht. Nadarkhani’s death sentence on charges of apostasy was upheld by Branch 11 of Gilan Province’s Appeals Court on August 23, 2010. On June 28, 2011, Iran’s Supreme Court overturned the ruling, but made the decision conditional on Nadarkhani’s repentance. There were three court sessions between September 25 and September 28, 2011 in which Youcef Nadarkhani was asked to repent and he refused. Nadarkhani is currently in detention inside Rasht Prison.

On September 30, 2011, the charge of “extortion” was mentioned for the first time on Fars News Agency’s website in a news article about Nadarkhani. The article claimed that Youcef Nadarkhani is accused of rape and repeated extortion. “Youcef Nadarkhani has [committed] security crimes and had set up a house of corruption. This individual is a criminal and his crime is not inviting some to the religion of Christianity, but he has security crimes. Nadarkhani’s death sentence has been issued for security crimes,” Fars quoted Gholamali Rezvani, Deputy Governor of Gilan for Security.

Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, Nadarkhani’s lawyer, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran at the time, “If he is under trial in another court on other charges, I am not aware. But we only defended him against the death sentence in the case of his charge of apostasy. The charge the court staff announced that I defended during several different court sessions was apostasy and no other charge.”

The new leveled charges raise concern that following widespread international criticism about the ruling issued for Mr. Nadarkhani, Iranian authorities wish to influence the case process by bringing up arbitrary charges. The new trial adds to these concerns.

In his interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran today, the source referred to evidence in Youcef Nadarkhani’s case. “In his defense documents, there is a hand-written letter from the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, in which he explicitly wrote about Youcef Nadarkhani that he must not be executed. His lawyer, Mr. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, presented this note as evidence in the case, as well as other legal reasoning why he should not be executed,” said the source.

“We are sure that Youcef Nadarkhani will be exonerated and released, because so far as we have seen, even the Chief Justice does not believe in his execution, and it is only the Judge who keeps insisting on it,” the source told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

The source also informed the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Youcef Nadarkhani’s lawyer, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, who was banned from practicing law in April, has been allowed to attend the trial court. “An invitation has been sent to Mohammad Ali Dadkhah from Nadarkhani’s court, telling him that he can participate in the trial to defend his client as his lawyer. This is a cause for joy, because Nadarkhani had no other lawyers and would not have been able to choose another lawyer in this short time,” the source told the Campaign....

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5 Comments

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dumbledoresarmy | August 19, 2012 12:24 AM | Reply

Looks like the latest Islamspeak for 'church' is "house of corruption".

After all, 'corruption' (as in the Quran verse that mentions 'corruption in the land') in Islamspeak (which is ten times nastier than Orwell's newspeak, but works along similar principles) boils down to 'anything at all that is not-Islam' or that can by some stretch of the imagination be perceived as 'threatening' Islam, Islam, Islam.

London Jim | August 19, 2012 12:31 AM | Reply

Where's Clive Stafford-Smith and his 'Reprieve' crew when Nadarkhani needs them ?

Buraq | August 19, 2012 1:46 AM | Reply

On the 30th September, 2011, The Guardian (UK) a leftist newspaper that defends Islam and explains away violent jihad as all the fault of the West, published an article by a Mehdi Hasan entitled, 'This brutality is not Islam'.

He mentions Article 23 of the Iranian Constitution which states: "The investigation of individuals' beliefs is forbidden, and no one may be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief."

However, Mehdi doesn't mention the fact that Article 26 is framed in such a way to get round Article 23! Click the following URL for the Iranian Constitution in English.

http://www.unesco.org/most/rr3iran.htm

But Mehdi then stumbles into a thicket by quoting the abrogated 'no compulsion in religion' boilerplate for Islam's apologists.

Anyway, my question is this: Will Mehdi and The Guardian (UK) take up the cudgels once more and fight for Youcef Nadarkhani now that the angle of attack has been changed?

Time will tell! The following URL is Mehdi's article from 2011.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/30/this-brutality-is-not-islam?INTCMP=SRCH

London Jim | August 19, 2012 4:29 AM | Reply

''The criteria of Islam'' being the operational phrase in Article 26 of that sham of a Constitution.
Well spotted, Buraq.

Kepha | August 19, 2012 6:02 AM | Reply

Watch evidence being manufactured.

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