Because they came to their senses and realized that humans should have the right to embrace whichever faith they choose? Nope. Rather, just as with the Afghan convert to Christianity who was imprisoned and released only because he was deemed “insane,” this man is supposedly “mentally not stable, because he had the courage to say in his blog that he is a Christian. Anyone in his right mind in Saudi Arabia wouldn’t do that” — especially since the penalty for apostasy is death. More on this story.
“Saudi Arabia: Authorities Release Christian Blogger, for Compass Direct News, April 16:
Kingdom silences convert, prohibits him from leaving country.
LOS ANGELES, April 16 (Compass Direct News) — In a surprise move, a Saudi Christian arrested in January for describing his conversion from Islam and criticizing the kingdom’s judiciary on his blog site was released on March 28 with the stipulation that he not travel outside of Saudi Arabia or appear on media. Hamoud Saleh Al-Amri (previously reported as Hamoud Bin Saleh), 28, reportedly attributed his release to advocacy efforts by the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI).
The Cairo-based organization had campaigned for his release along with other rights groups, reported Christian advocacy organization Middle East Concern. Gamal Eid, director of ANHRI, told Compass by telephone that he believed his organization had nothing to do with Al-Amri’s release. Rather, he said he believed officials were loath to keep a person of questionable mental stability in prison. “He is mentally not stable, because he had the courage to say in his blog that he is a Christian,” Eid said. “Anyone in his right mind in Saudi Arabia wouldn’t do that.” The country”s penalty for “apostasy,” or leaving Islam, is death, although in recent years there have been no known cases of kingdom citizens formally convicted and sentenced with capital punishment for the offense.