KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan man is being prosecuted in a Kabul court and could be sentenced to death on a charge of converting from Islam to Christianity, a crime under this country’s Islamic laws, a judge said Sunday.
The trial is believed to be the first of its kind in Afghanistan and highlights a struggle between religious conservatives and reformists over what shape Islam should take here four years after the ouster of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime.
The defendant, Abdul Rahman, 41, was arrested in February after his family accused him of becoming a Christian, Judge Ansarullah Mawlavezada said. Rahman was charged with rejecting Islam; his trial started Thursday.
During the one-day hearing, the defendant confessed that he had converted to Christianity 16 years ago while working for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan, Mawlavezada said.
“We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law,” the judge said. “It is an attack on Islam.”
Mawlavezada said he would rule on the case within two months.
Afghanistan’s constitution is based on Shariah law, which is interpreted by many Muslims to require that any Muslim who rejects Islam be sentenced to death, said Ahmad Fahim Hakim, deputy chairman of the state-sponsored Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.
Repeated attempts to interview Rahman in detention were barred.
The prosecutor, Abdul Wasi, said he offered to drop the charges if Rahman converted back to Islam, but Rahman refused.
“He would have been forgiven if he changed back. But he said he was a Christian and would always remain one,” Wasi said. “We are Muslims, and becoming a Christian is against our laws. He must get the death penalty.”
After being an aid worker for four years in Pakistan, Rahman moved to Germany for nine years, said his father, Abdul Manan, outside his Kabul home.
Rahman returned to Afghanistan in 2002 and tried to gain custody of his two daughters, now 13 and 14, who had been living with their grandparents, Manan said. A custody battle ensued, and the matter was taken to the police.
During questioning, it emerged that Rahman was a Christian and was carrying a Bible. He was immediately arrested and charged, the father said.
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