Rifqa Bary‘s lawyer John Stemberger just held a press conference and released these two pdfs. One is Rifqa’s own statement, and the other details the jihadist ties of the Noor Islamic Center in Columbus, Ohio, the mosque of Rifqa’s parents. I was on the conference call, and heard Stemberger make the case that Rifqa’s parents attend a mosque with multiple links to jihadists, thus lending credence to her claim that she would be in grave danger if returned to their custody. Rifqa’s own affidavit underscores this. Pamela has a transcription over at Atlas Shrugs:
15. I became a Christian on Friday, November 18, 2005 at the Korean United Methodist Church in Columbus, Ohio;
16. I hid my Christian faith from my parents as best as I could and had to sneak around to attend Christian campus meetings, I also hid my Bible at home in various locations;
17. In about 2007 my father discovered a copy of a book entitled the “Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren that I hid in my bedroom. My father had a serious talk with me about the importance of retaining the Islamic blood line in my family but I did not tell him about my conversion;
18. In June of 2009 my father confronted me with several questions about whether I had become a Christian, whether I was baptized, if I was going to church. Out of fear I remained silent;
19. Then my father told me that he received numerous emails and phone calls from the leaders of the Noor Center community who informed him that he needed to deal with this matter immediately;
20. In a fit of anger that I had never seen before in my life, he picked up my lap top, waived it over my head as if to strike me with it and said “if you have this Jesus in your heart, you are dead to me! You are no longer my daughter.” I continued to remain silent and then he said to me even more angry then before, I will kill you! Tell me the truth!”
21. On July 17, 2009, my mother confronted me about another Christian book she discovered that I hid in my bedroom. She had just spoken with my father was on the phone who was out of town. She was very upset, in tears, and almost grieving and told me I was going to have to be sent back to Sri Lanka to be dealt with.
Read it all. Pamela also has audio of the press conference, which is remarkable for the exceedingly contentious and leading questions asked by the assembled “journalists.” Don’t miss it.