Would-be Miss California Says God Wants Gays Dead
I wonder what God thinks about women who flaunt their bodies? About immodest women? – © Mark
PINK NEWS: A contestant for the 2010 Miss California pageant has given her views on same-sex marriage, saying that the Bible is "pretty black and white" on what should happen to gays.

Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley, who evidently hopes to follow in the footsteps of last year's Miss California Carrie Prejean, was speaking to Fox News.

Ms Ashley said: "The Bible says that marriage is between a man and a woman. In Leviticus it says, 'If man lies with mankind [sic] as he would lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death and their blood shall be upon them.' The Bible is pretty black and white. >>> Jessica Green | Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Not a Whiff of Allah’s Compassion and Mercy in the Islamic Republic of Iran
TIMES ONLINE: Nine more dissidents will be executed soon, a senior member of Iran's judiciary declared today, as the regime stepped up its efforts to deter another huge opposition rally planned for next week.

The regime is sufficiently worried that it has ordered state television not to broadcast the usual historic television footage of insurrection on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the Shah, lest the scenes incite today's opposition to follow suit.

Last Thursday it hanged two men for allegedly plotting against the regime - a move condemned internationally but praised by Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, a hardline cleric, during Friday prayers in Tehran. "May God not have mercy on those who are lenient with the corrupt on earth," he said. "There is no room for clemency. It is time for severity."

On Saturday the regime broadcast the trial of 16 opposition supporters, two of them women, for allegedly plotting against the Islamic Republic and conspiring with its foreign enemies.

Today Ebrahim Raisi, a senior member of the judiciary, announced that nine more alleged members of "anti-revolutionary" groups would be hanged soon. "They had participated in riots with the aim of creating disunity and toppling the system," he said. Nine to be executed as Iran plans crackdown >>> Martin Fletcher | Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Muslim Leader Blasts Gay Lifestyle
JAMAICA OBSERVER: PRESIDENT of the Islamic Council of Jamaica, Mustafa Muhammad, says he agrees with the Sharia law which prescribes death for people who openly flaunt homosexual behaviour.

Muhammad did not mince words as he lashed out against what he described as an unclean, unnatural lifestyle.

“It is illegal and in the Sharia law the punishment is death. If you follow Christianity it is a crime in the sight of God. He destroyed a whole city because of this thing. It is an ungodly practice and I apologise to no one for this,” Muhammad said.

Under Jamaican law, persons who practice buggery — the sexual penetration of the anus — can be sent to prison for up to 10 years.

Despite claims by local and international gay lobbyists that homosexuals are attacked and killed in Jamaica, police statistics show that most gays who are killed are victims of crimes of passion.

Muhammad made sure to state that he was against the killing of gays in Jamaica.

“This can only be done in a country that is being run by Islam,” he said. >>> Karyl Walker | Monday, February 01, 2010

Iranian Activists Hanged at Dawn
The protesters clashed with police and Islamist militiamen. Photograph: Times Online
This is just another manifestation of Islam’s credentials to be called the ‘religion of peace’! Geert Wilders in the Netherlands is on trial for highlighting its excesses and weaknesses of this self-same religion. And it is this self-same religion whose book, the Koran, in all its surahs (chapters) bar one, begin with the injunction, 'In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful'!

If Allah is so merciful and compassionate, I wish that Muslims would remember this when they pass sentence on hapless individuals who feel cheated by the repressive Islamic régimes they live under. If Muslims want Allah to show compassion and mercy on them, then maybe it’s time for them to show compassion and mercy on their brothers in Islam!

As for the Netherlands… What can one say about a country, any country, that puts one of its citizens, still less one of its leading politicians, on trial for telling the truth, as Douglas Murray has pointed out. Surely if things go on like this here in the West, a revolution cannot be far off the horizon. – © Mark

TIMES ONLINE: Two Iranians convicted of being "enemies of God" and trying to topple the Islamic regime were hanged at dawn today.

It was the first known execution of opposition activists since June's disputed presidential election prompted massive street protests - although the lawyer of one of the two men insisted that her client was arrested at least two months before the election and was not involved in any demonstrations.

The ISNA news agency said that Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmani Pour were "hanged on Thursday morning" after their sentences were confirmed by a Tehran appeals court, were hanged on Thursday morning”.

Both were convicted of being "Mohareb" - enemies of God - and of trying to overthrow the "Islamic establishment". They were also convicted of belonging to armed opposition groups.

Iran has tried more than 100 political activists and protesters since August. According to official media reports, five have been sentenced to death and more than 80 to prison terms ranging from six months to 15 years.

Reports today suggested that nine more had been sentenced to death in those trials and an appeals court is reviewing their cases.

Some of the latest nine death sentences were reportedly related to deadly clashes on December 27, when at least eight people were killed in the most violent day of protests since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed a resounding re-election win. >>> Philippe Naughton | Thursday, January 18, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Iran executes two dissidents and sentences to death nine more: Iran delivered a chilling message of intent to the country's reform movement yesterday when it hanged two men accused of participating in protests following last year's disputed presidential election and sentenced to death nine more. >>> Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Thursday, January 28, 2010

Saudi 'Sorcerer' Who Raped 100 Sentenced to Death
THE TELEGRAPH: A Saudi man who reportedly raped more than 100 women after posing as a spell-caster to lure them into his clutches has been sentenced to death, Saudi media reported on Wednesday.

The "Qatif sorcerer" was originally sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes, but after more victims came forth the sentence was changed to execution, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported.

The man, whose name was not given, terrified women around the eastern city of Qatif for several years.

He first drew them in by saying he could cast love spells, but then surreptitiously filmed their meeting and used his work for extortion and to rape them, according to Arab News.

Authorities found hidden cameras and some 200 videotapes and 180 computer disks with footage of his victims in his home, Arab News reported.

He may have tricked as many as 350 women, according to Al-Riyadh. >>> | Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Qatif Rapist Sentenced to Death
ARABS NEWS: QATIF: A man dubbed the Qatif rapist has been sentenced to death for raping over 100 women and blackmailing many of his victims by recording the attacks on video.

The Qatif General Court passed the death sentence on the man who is accused of luring women saying he could perform black magic. The ruling has been passed to the Supreme Court for ratification.

The court originally sentenced the man to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes one year ago. The ruling was, however, appealed by the prosecution, Al-Yaum newspaper reported. It added that the crimes took place four years ago.

The man’s family has objected to the sentence, saying the victims are anonymous and that their names have not been mentioned in the case filed against him. The family says this is not in accordance with the law and that the victims should not be given anonymity. >>> | Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Antigay Ugandan Law Disastrous for NGOs
ADVOCATE.COM: A bill calling for death sentences in multiple scenarios for gays and lesbians in Uganda will create a chilling effect for on-the-ground charities and aid groups seeking to effectively curb HIV infection.

“Just by recognizing gay rights, our organization could be accused of promoting homosexuality, and our staff could risk being imprisoned for three years.” 


This I was recently told by a contact whose charity works in Uganda. Desperately worried about whether the group will be able to continue with its important work, the source asked me not to identify the charity, a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on sexual and reproductive rights that operates a program in this landlocked, East African country. Yet the group’s work is both more important and in greater danger than ever.



Under the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill rearing its twisted head in Uganda—one that calls for the death penalty for acts of “aggravated homosexuality—any corporate body, business, association, or non-governmental organization risks being stripped of its license to practice in the country. Directors risk seven-year prison sentences if they are involved in the so-called “promotion” or funding that “in any way abets homosexuality and related practices.” In a country with nearly one million people living with HIV, Uganda’s parliament is about to criminalize the very organizations that are there to help. And it may further criminalize a group of people who are already criminals in the eyes of the law. 



But the NGOs would be affected by more than just the “promotion” clause. Under the proposed bill, anyone not reporting a known breach of the law within 24 hours faces a three-year sentence. Anyone with HIV engaging in gay sex, or having sex with someone under 18, or who is a serial offender (surely most gay people would, by their nature, be serial offenders) could be executed. >>> | Thursday, December 03, 2009

Uganda plant Todesstrafe für Schwule
Bild: Die Presse
DIE PRESSE: Empörung über Gesetzentwurf im ostafrikanischen Staat Uganda. Der Entwurf beinhaltet die Todesstrafe für HIV-infizierte aktive Homosexuelle und auf homosexuelle Handlungen stünde lebenslange Haft.

Manchem Schwulen in Uganda könnte die Todesstrafe drohen. Angehörige und Freunde müssten mit sieben Jahren Gefängnis rechnen, wenn sie sie nicht verpetzen. Vermieter hätten Haftstrafen zu befürchten, wenn sie Homosexuellen Wohnraum vermieten. Das sieht ein Gesetzentwurf vor, der derzeit in Uganda erörtert wird und international zunehmend Empörung auslöst.



Bürgerrechtler sehen darin eine Anstachelung zum Schwulenhass und eine Gefahr für die Bemühungen zur Aids-Bekämpfung. Für sie steht der Entwurf im Rahmen einer heftigen Gegenreaktion in ganz Afrika darauf, dass sich Homosexuelle nicht mehr verstecken wollen. "Das ist eine Frage des Sichtbarwerdens", glaubt David Cato, der zum Aktivisten wurde, nachdem man ihn vier Mal zusammengeschlagen und zwei Mal festgenommen, als Lehrer hinausgeworfen und in der Presse geoutet hatte. "Wenn wir offen auftreten und unsere Rechte einfordern, machen sie Gesetze gegen uns." >>> Ag./AP/Katharine Houreld und Godfrey Olukya | Donnerstag, 10. Dezember 2009

Barbarism in the First World
How can America criticize Saudi Arabia for barbaric beheadings when this sort of thing goes on in the States? – © Mark
THE GUARDIAN: Defence attorneys for Bobby Wayne Woods argued for state to spare inmate following low scores on IQ tests

Texas has executed a child killer at the centre of a bitter dispute over what defines legal mental impairment after several courts ruled that he could be put to death despite a low IQ.

Bobby Wayne Woods, 44, was killed by lethal injection for raping and murdering his girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter after the US supreme court denied a last minute appeal by lawyers who argued that the condemned man fell within a ruling by the same court in 2002 that the mentally impaired could not be sentenced to death.

After being told that the supreme court had refused to intervene, Woods' last words were: "Bye. I'm ready."

Tests on Woods in prison put his IQ as low as 68, below the widely accepted cut off for mental impairment of 70. However, in pursuing the death penalty, the state fell back on other tests conducted when he was a child that put his IQ as high as 86.

Maurie Levin, a University of Texas law professor who represented Woods, said that he is "transparently childlike and simple" and described the execution as "a travesty".

Despite the supreme court ruling seven years ago barring the death penalty for the mentally impaired, individual states are left to decide what defines severe learning disabilities. The court said that an IQ test of "around 70" was an indicator but did not set a specific test.

Recent studies have shown that men with IQ scores lower than 70 have been executed in several states, including Texas and Alabama. Texas executes man at centre of mental disability row >>> Chris McGreal in Washington | Friday, December 04, 2009

LE FIGARO: Texas : un homme souffrant 
de retard mental exécuté : Bobby Woods a été condamné à mort pour le meurtre d'une petite fille. Son exécution relance le débat de la peine de mort des attardés mentaux, interdite depuis 2002 par la Cour suprême. >>> J.J. (lefigaro.fr) avec agences | Vendredi 04 Décembre 2009

NZZ ONLINE: Todesurteil an Kindermörder in USA vollstreckt >>> sda/afp | Freitag, 04. Dezember 2009

Texas Accounts for Half of Executions in US But Now Has Doubts Over Death Row
THE GUARDIAN: Overturned convictions and growth of DNA forensic evidence shake state's rock-solid faith in capital punishment

Even in Texas they are having their doubts. The state that executes more people than any other by far – it will account for half the prisoners sent to the death chamber in the US this year – is seeing its once rock-solid faith in capital punishment shaken by overturned convictions, judicial scandals and growing evidence that at least one innocent man has been executed.

The growth of DNA forensic evidence has seen nearly 140 death row convictions overturned across the US, prompting abolition and moratoriums in other states that Texas has so far resisted.

But the public mood is swinging in the conservative state, which often seems to have an Old Testament view of justice. A former governor, Mark White – previously a strong supporter of the death penalty – has joined those calling for a reconsideration of capital punishment because of the risk of executing an innocent person.

The number of death sentences passed by juries in Texas has fallen sharply in recent years, reflecting a retreat from capital punishment in many parts of America after DNA evidence led to the release of scores of condemned prisoners.

The number of death sentences passed annually in the US has dropped by about 60% in the past decade, to around 100.

"In Texas we have seen a constant stream of individual cases that really destroy public faith and integrity in our criminal justice system," said Steve Hall, former chief of staff to the Texas attorney general for eight years, who is now an anti-death penalty activist.

"You are seeing that scepticism reflected in a lot of different ways. You are seeing juries more reluctant to issue death sentences. You are also seeing a different approach by district attorneys. Some are breaking with the past culture of seeking the death penalty whenever they can." >>> Chris McGreal in Livingston | Sunday, November 15, 2009

Texas Man Faces Execution After Jurors Consult Bible to Decide Fate
THE TELEGRAPH: A convicted murderer faces execution in Texas after jurors consulted the Bible while deliberating on his sentence.

All criminals sentenced to death in Beijing will receive lethal injections from the end of the year, rather than facing a firing squad. Photo: The Telegraph
Amnesty International has appealed to the state to commute the sentence on Khristian Oliver, 32, who is due to die on November 5.

He was sentenced to death in 1999 for murdering a man whose home Oliver was burgling. The victim was shot in the face and beaten with his own rifle.

It later emerged that while deciding whether he should be given the death penalty, jurors consulted the Bible. Four jury members admitted that several copies had been in the jury room and that highlighted passages were passed around.

At one point, a juror reportedly read aloud from a copy, including the passage: "And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death."

Defence lawyers argued in appeals that jurors had been improperly influenced by the Bibles but the trial judge rejected the claim, a decision upheld by a Texas appeals court.

The US constitution calls for the separation of state and religion. In 2005, the state supreme court in Colorado overturned a death penalty on a convicted murderer because jurors had consulted the Bible while deliberating over his sentence. >>> Tom Leonard in New York | Thursday, October 15, 2009

Egypt: Islamic Lawyers Urge Death Sentence for Convert
COMPASS DIRECT NEWS: In case on whether he can legally change religion, Christian is accused of ‘apostasy.’

ISTANBUL – In the latest hearing of a Muslim-born Egyptian’s effort to officially convert to Christianity, opposing lawyers advocated he be convicted of “apostasy,” or leaving Islam, and sentenced to death.

More than 20 Islamic lawyers attended the hearing on Sunday (Feb. 22) in Maher Ahmad El-Mo’otahssem Bellah El-Gohary’s case to obtain identification papers with Christianity designated as his religious affiliation. Two lawyers led the charge, Ahmed Dia El-Din and Abdel Al-Migid El-Anani.

“[El-Din] started to talk about the Quran being in a higher position than the Bible,” one of El-Gohary’s lawyers, Said Fayez, told Compass. “[El-Din said] people can move to a higher religion but not down, so people cannot move away from Islam because it is highest in rank.”

Memos submitted by opposing lawyers asserted that cases such as El-Gohary’s form part of a U.S. Zionist attack on Islam in

Egypt, that Christianity is an inferior religion to Islam and that Copts protect and defend converts from Islam at their own peril.

“We received 150 pages from them that talked about religion,” said Fayez. “We are not in a position to talk about religion, we are only talking about the law.”

El-Gohary Beaten

El-Gohary was not present at the hearing, as attendance would put him at extreme personal risk. He had planned to obtain papers authorizing attorney Nabil Ghobreyal to act as his proxy representation in court, but staff members at the registry office swore at and beat him, lawyers said.

Judge Hamdy Yasin was forced to adjourn the case until March 28 because El-Gohary did not obtain the necessary proxy representation documents.

“I am now in a position where I can’t do anything else,” El-Gohary, who has been in hiding, told Compass. “I have to go [to court] despite the danger. I believe God will protect me. It’s a very hard decision, but I have to go.”

Copts and Christian converts have to face such systemic prejudice daily in the battle for their rights, he said.

“Our rights in Egypt, as Christians or converts, are less than the rights of animals,” El-Gohary said. “We are deprived of social and civil rights, deprived of our inheritance and left to the fundamentalists to be killed. Nobody bothers to investigate or care about us.”

El-Gohary, 56, has been attacked in the street, spat at and knocked down in his effort to win the right to officially convert. He said he and his 14-year-old daughter continue to receive death threats by text message and phone call.

But he also has received text messages, he said, of encouragement from other Muslim-born converts too fearful to take a similar stand.

“Everyday I get calls from people who have converted but are secret,” said El-Gohary. “They ask me every day about what is happening, because it affects their future.”

The danger to himself and his daughter has led El-Gohary to suggest that he will most likely leave Egypt, but not until the case is over. >>> | Thursday, February 26, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Pakistan: Christian Activist’s Life in Danger after Arrest on Blasphemy Charges
ASIANEWS.it: Hector Aleem was arrested at night at his home after he was accused of sending a blasphemous text message. Since then he has been allowed to see his family only once. Muslim clerics want the court to hand him over to them so that they can execute him. The blasphemy law under which he was arrested also penalises members of other minorities. Five members of the Ahmadi community were in fact arrested on the same charges; four of them minors. >>> Qaiser Felix | Friday, January 30, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Italy) >>>

Tosh from the Telegraph; Truth about the Nature of Islam from the Bully, Anjem Choudary
Anjem Choudary keeps on giving us trouble; we keep on putting up with it. Now he describes The Jewel of Medina as “an attack on the honour of Mohammed…” “It is clearly stipulated in Muslim law that any kind of attack on his honour carries the death penalty.” Photo courtesy of Google Images
THE TELEGRAPH: The American author Sherry Jones is either very brave or very foolhardy. She has written a novel about Mohammed, focusing on his relationship with his favourite wife, A'isha.

A professor of Muslim history, Denise Spellberg of the University of Texas, has described the book as "very ugly, stupid … soft-core pornography". Miss Jones can turn the other cheek.

The words of Anjem Choudhary, a one-time member of the extremist Islamist group al-Mujaharoun, are not so easy to brush aside.

Speaking after a firebomb attack on the home of the book's London publisher, he describes the novel as "an attack on the honour of Mohammed" and adds: "It is clearly stipulated in Muslim law that any kind of attack on his honour carries the death penalty." Anjem Choudary Speaks the Truth about the Brutality of Islam; We Refuse to Accept It >>> | September 30. 2008

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Iran Parliament Votes In Favor Of Death Penalty for Former Muslims
BOS NEWS LIFE: TEHRAN, IRAN -- Iran's parliament has accepted a law proposal stipulating the death penalty for "apostasy", adding to concerns about jailed Christians from Muslim backgrounds, rights watchers said Thursday, September 11.

The controversial proposal was approved by 196 votes for, seven against, and two abstentions, according to details released after the vote.

"The progress of this bill through the Iranian Parliament is a cause of grave concern for increasing numbers of Iranians who have left Islam for another religion," said the Britain-based influential religious rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). "It is a significant backwards step for human rights in Iran."

Last week, two Christians from Muslim backgrounds, 53-year-old Mahmoud Mohammad Matin-Azad and 40-year-old Arash Ahmad-Ali Basirat, were charged with apostasy at the Public and Revolutionary Court in the town of Shiraz. Prosecutors have already demanded the death penalty for the two men, who have been in detention since May 15, 2008, CSW said earlier. Iran Parliament Votes In Favor Of Death Penalty For Former Muslims: Jailed Christians Face Execution, Rights Watchers Say >>> By BosNewsLife News Center | September 11, 2008

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Another Verdict of Death from the ‘Religion of Peace’
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: LAGOS - An Islamic body in Nigeria has issued a death sentence on a man who married 80 women against the maximum of four allowed by Islam, The Guardian reported yesterday.

Jamatu Nasril Islam said in a statement that Mohammadu Bello Masaba from the central Niger state stood condemned to death unless he divorced 76 of the women in four days.

"Unless Masaba repents within four days and take only four wives from the herd he remains condemned to death, according to sharia law," the statement said.

"Any Muslim who married more than the approved number of wives at a time either by mistake or out of ignorance is instructed to choose but only four and ask for Allah's forgiveness," Jamatu Nasril Islam said. [Source: Death Verdict for Man with 80 Wives] Agence France-Presse | August 23, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
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Pakistan: Man Sentenced to Death for Insulting Islam
AKI: Sialkot - A Pakistani judge has sentenced a man to death and life imprisonment on charges of blasphemy and desecration of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.

Shafiq Latif of Kulluwal in northeastern Pakistan is alleged to have made derogatory remarks against the Prophet Mohammed and desecrated pages of the Koran on 17 March 2006. Pakistan: Man Sentenced to Death for Insulting Islam >>> | June 19, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US)
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When Muslims Become Christians
Image courtesy of Google Images
BBC: There's a widespread belief that the penalty for leaving Islam is death - hence, perhaps, the killing of a British teacher last week. But Shiraz Maher believes attitudes may be softening.

Ziya Meral's parents disowned him when he converted from Islam to Christianity.

"They said 'go away, you're not our son.' They told people I died in an accident rather than having the shame of their son leaving Islam."

Born and raised in Turkey, he decided to convert to Christianity after moving to university. He knew telling his parents would be a difficult moment even though they're not particularly observant Muslims, and he planned to break the news to them gently.

In the end, events overtook him. Before heading back to Turkey for the holidays, Ziya briefly visited a Christian summer camp where he was filmed eating a bowl of spaghetti.

The first his parents heard of his conversion was when they saw Ziya on the national news being described as "an evil missionary" intent on "brainwashing" Turkish children.

His parents decided they would rather tell people that he was dead than acknowledge he was a Christian. And Ziya, who now lives in the UK, is not alone in this experience.

Sophia, which is not her real name, faced similar pressures when she decided to become a Christian.

Coming from a Pakistani background but living in east London, 28-year-old Sophia spoke about the extreme cultural pressures her family put her under.

"They kept saying: 'The punishment is death, do you know the punishment is death?'"

In the end, Sophia ran away from home. Her mother tracked her down and turned up at her baptism.

"I got up to get baptised, that's when my mother got up, ran to the front and tried to pull me out of the water.

"My brother was really angry. He reacted and phoned me on my mobile and just said: 'I'm coming down to burn that church.'"

For Sophia and Ziya, a lot of the prejudice they faced seemed to be borne out of cultural ideas, which are particularly ingrained in the South Asian community relating to notions of family honour.

But it's too easy to say this is just a cultural problem. Dig a little deeper and you find that there is a theological argument which advocates the death penalty for apostates, which has serious implications for British society. When Muslims Become Christians >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
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Iranian Parliament to Discuss the Death Penalty for Apostates
AND KRONOS INTERNATIONAL: Tehran, 19 March (AKI) - In its first session since last week's general elections, the new Iranian parliament is expected to discuss a law that will condemn to death anyone who decides to leave the Muslim faith and convert to other religions.

The parliament, also known as the Majlis, will debate the new law which has been presented by the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Under the proposed law, anyone who is born to Muslim parents and decides to convert to another faith, will face the death penalty.

Currently converts, particularly those who have decided to leave the Muslim faith for Evangelical churches, are arrested and then released after some years of detention.

The new legislation, which has caused concern in Iran and abroad, was proposed mainly because of fears of proselytising activities by Evangelical churches particularly through the use of satellite channels.

There has also been concern over fact that many young people in Iran have abandoned Islam because they're tired of the many restrictions imposed by the faith.

According to unofficial sources, in the past five years, one million Iranians, particularly young people and women, have abandoned Islam and joined Evangelical churches. Iran: Parliament to discuss death penalty for converts who leave Islam >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

For God’s Sake, Save This Poor Man and Put Him Out of His Misery!
To send Mehdi Kazemi back to the barbarism of Iran, back into the hands of the cruel Ahmadinejad would be nothing short of a crime.

We allow all sorts of unsavoury characters into the European Union, so many of whom are illegal immigrants, and so many of whom turn against the state by becoming terrorists and working to undermine the system. This man is harmless. He just happens to be attracted to people of his own sex. Whatever one’s feelings about homosexuality, only an extremely cruel system would send him back to Iran to face his death. And a horrendous one at that! This poor man needs protection, and he needs it NOW.

This man will not turn into a terrorist. He is merely trying to pursue his own happiness. All people, regardless, should have the right to do that. - ©Mark

Photo of Mehdi Kazemi courtesy of The Times
”“I cannot stop my attraction towards men. This is something that I will have to live with the rest of my life. I was born with the feeling and cannot change this fact but it is unfortunate that I cannot express my feeling in Iran. If I return to Iran I will be arrested and executed like my former boyfriend.” - Mehdi Kazemi

TIMESONLINE: A gay teenager who faces being hanged if sent back to Iran is a step closer to being forced to return today, after the Netherlands followed Britain in refusing his appeal for asylum.

Mehdi Kazemi, 19, came to London to study English in 2005 but says he later discovered that his boyfriend had been arrested by the Iranian police, charged with sodomy and hanged.

He claimed asylum in Britain, saying that he feared for his life if he returned. However, his case was refused late last year, so he fled to the Netherlands.

A Dutch court today, however, ordered him to return to Britain, leaving the teenager once again facing deportation.

According to Iranian human rights campaigners, more than 4,000 gay men and lesbians have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979. Gay student 'faces death' after Iran return >>> By David Byers and agencies | March 11, 2008

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Afghanistan: Sayed Pervez Kambaksh
THE INDEPENDENT: The idea that any individual in any country should face execution for downloading information from the internet is as abhorrent as it is incomprehensible. That this should be happening in a nation whose government benefits from the military and financial support of Western countries, Britain included, should give us great pause for thought. Pervez Kabaksh [sic], 23, is a student at an Afghan university and a journalist. He was arrested last year after downloading material about the role of women in Islamic societies. We can well imagine that the material was not flattering to, or particularly consonant with, some of the precepts of Islam. Mr Kambaksh was charged, and last week convicted, of blasphemy. He had pleaded not guilty.

The United Nations criticised the conduct of the trial, in which Mr Kambaksh had no legal representation. There were hopes that the upper house of the Afghan legislature would at least commute the death sentence. In the event, however, the Senate leader signed his approval without calling a vote.

The Afghan government says the judgment is not final. This is why it is vital that anyone who values free speech should join the campaign to reverse this quite unwarranted sentence. When Hamid Karzai became President of Afghanistan, it was on a platform that included religious tolerance, in stark contrast to the rule of the routed Taliban.

It is surely worth asking what sort of a country Afghanistan is now becoming, if girls who go want to go to school risk being killed and young men are threatened with death for downloading information from the internet. [Source: Leading article: The price of free speech]

THE INDEPENDENT:
How he was sentenced to die

THE INDEPENDENT:
Save Pervez! Global protests to save Afghan student from death sentence: Worldwide outrage over Afghan sentenced to death for reading article on women's rights. Join the Independent campaign now

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Save Pervez! Global Protests to Save Afghan Student from Death Sentence
THE INDEPENDENT: Worldwide outrage over Afghan sentenced to death for reading article on women's rights. Join the Independent campaign now

Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, has been inundated with appeals to save the life of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, the student journalist sentenced to death after being accused of downloading an internet report on women's rights.

While international protests mounted over the affair, with the British Government saying it had already raised its concerns, hundreds of people marched through the capital, Kabul, demanding Mr Kambaksh's release.

A petition launched yesterday by The Independent to secure justice for Mr Kambaksh had attracted more than 13,500 signatories by last night, and a number of support groups have been set up on the social networking site Facebook with more than 400 joining one group alone.

Mr Kambaksh, 23, was arrested, tried and convicted by a religious court, in what his friends and family say was a secret session without being allowed legal representation.

The United Nations, human rights groups, journalists' organisations and diplomats urged Mr Karzai's government to quash the death sentence and release him.

Instead, on Wednesday, the Afghan senate passed a motion confirming the death sentence. The MP who proposed the ruling condemning Mr Kambaksh was Sibghatullah Mojadedi, a key ally of Mr Karzai. Save Pervez! Global protests to save Afghan student from death sentence >>> By Kim Sengupta, Jerome Starkey in Kabul, Anne Penketh and Ben Russell

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)