THE CRIME: FAITH
THE VERDICT: DEATH
Accused of Apostasy in Iran
Sentenced to Death
Yousef Nadarkhani and his family need your help, prayers, and swift action to save his life.
In a dingy Iranian prison cell a man kneels in prayer. A devoted father and faithful husband, he prays for his wife and two children. His prayers for them and for the members of his small church are direct and fervent. After all, this day might be his last.This man’s name is Yousef Nadarkhani and the Iranian government has sentenced him to death. His crime? Apostasy. For choosing a different faith than the extremist version of Islam promoted by the government of Iran.
Religious minorities in Iran face some of the worst societal discrimination and government harassment in the world. Minorities such as Christians and Baha’is are snatched off the streets by security forces to be imprisoned and tortured for their ‘deviant’ beliefs. Even minority Muslim groups such as the Sufis face public lashings to punish and humiliate them.
Despite the religious freedom guarantees in Iran’s constitution, which includes a parent’s right to raise his child under the family’s religious teachings, every child in Iran faces mandatory indoctrination in the specific version of Islam favored by the elite Islamic clergy that rules the country. Pastor Yousef protested the indoctrination of his children and was promptly arrested in his hometown of Rasht on October 13, 2009.
Since his arrest the Iranian authorities have used every means at their disposal to try to force Pastor Yousef to deny his faith. In addition to the ever-present threat of death, they have held him incommunicado, tortured him, imprisoned his wife and threatened his children. Even his lawyer, Mohammad Dadkah, a valiant Muslim advocate for human rights, has been suspended from practicing law and sentenced to 9 years in prison for supporting the cause of freedom in Iran.
After years in prison, the Iranian Supreme Court remanded his case back to the local court that initially sentenced Pastor Yousef to death. Despite multiple violations of international law and Iran’s own Constitution, the Iranian court once again sentenced Pastor Yousef to death on September 25, 2011.
In its arrogance the Iranian government discounted the implications of publicly violating one the most basic rights of the human soul. Free people all over the world were shocked and outraged by this travesty. Many found it hard to believe that in this day and age, a government would publicly condemn a man to death solely for his religious convictions, and they called Iran to account for its violation of the most basic international covenants.
Faced with an international incident the state court of Gilan Section 11 appealed to the Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran. Caught between people of good conscience demanding Yousef's release and bloodthirsty extremists throughout the Iranian government demanding his death, Khamenei has engaged in a variety of delaying tactics. According to the latest reports, we cannot expect a decision before March of 2012.
However Khamenei's hesitation has given us the most valuable weapon of all. Time. One week after the launch of our campaign we already gathered over 6000 signatures and the cries for Yousef's release are just beginning. By March these cries will have grown to a full-throated roar and when we will deliver our petition to the Iranian embassy in Den Hague we pray that those calling for Yousef's release will number in the tens of thousands.
Only you can bring that to pass. We encourage you to use this time that the oppressive government of Iran has so generously given us. Tell your friends and family, spread the news at your businesses and churches. Tell the world about Yousef's case and call on all free citizens of the world to join with us and sign the Petition for Yousef's Release.
Help Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani.
Sign the petition!
