THE GUARDIAN: Youcef Nadarkhani reunited with family after court acquits him of apostasy, which carries death sentence under Sharia law
An Iranian Christian pastor who refused to renounce his faith after being sentenced to death for apostasy has been released from prison.
Youcef Nadarkhani, 35, was released from prison on Saturday and reunited with his family after a court in the northern city of Rasht, the capital of Iran's Gilan province, acquitted him of apostasy, which carried the death sentence under Iran's Sharia law.
"Nadarkhani was acquitted of apostasy but instead charged with acting against the national security and therefore sentenced to three years in jail," a reliable source in Rasht, who asked not to be named for fear of government reprisal, told the Guardian. "But because he had already served three years in prison, he was allowed to go home."
It is believed Nadarkhani's lawyer argued in court that Iran was a signatory to international treaties requiring it to respect freedom of religion.
Nadarkhani was arrested in October 2009 for converting at the age of 19 to Christianity from Islam, his parent's religion. Although he insisted he was never a practising Muslim, Iran considers the religion of a child to be that of his father. Those who convert to other religions risk arrest or even execution for apostasy. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Saturday, September 08, 2012
