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Canada grants asylum to Iranian couple who “angered authorities” by converting to Christianity

Apr 2, 2009 2:09 pm By Robert Spencer

“Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him,” said the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (Bukhari 9.84.57).

Anti-dhimmitude from, of all places, Canada: “Iranian couple granted asylum: Christian faith angered authorities in Iran,” by Doug Ward and Darah Hansen in the Vancouver Sun, April 2 (thanks to Reza):

An Iranian couple who angered authorities in their Islamic country by converting to Christianity have arrived in Vancouver after nearly a decade on the run from religious persecution.

Azita and Ahmad Shafaghat were embraced at Vancouver International Airport on Tuesday by former Canadian beauty queen Nazanin Afshin-Jam, a Vancouver-based human rights activist who’s been pressing Ottawa to grant them asylum as refugees since 2006.

“I am very, very happy. Thank you, Canada,” said Azita Shafaghat, 28, who along with her husband Ahmad, 29, has spent time in Iranian and Turkish prisons. The meeting between the Shafaghats and Afshin-Jam was an emotional one, with the couple praising their Iranian-Canadian champion for her tireless work on their behalf….

Their long ordeal began in 1999 when the couple served a five-month jail term in Iran after being arrested during a student rally. Azita Shafaghat was found in possession of a cross around her neck, while Ahmad Shafaghat had a small Bible. After their release, the Shafaghats went underground for six years.

They told reporters upon their arrival in Vancouver that they decided to flee Iran because they could not openly practise their religious beliefs there.

“In the name of Islam, they kill people, they make it mandatory to practise this religion,” Azita Shafaghat said through Afshin-Jam. “I practised the faith of my choice. It should be something that comes from the heart.”…

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