Afghan Judge Resists Pressure In Convert Case

Abdul Rahman, an Afghan Christian, is being tried for converting from Islam 16 years ago. (Reuters Tv Via Reuters)

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 25 -- A judge here held firm Friday in the face of international demands to reconsider the charges against an Afghan man who faces a possible death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity. Meanwhile, reports emerged that the man might be freed soon.

But pressure against the case has been building, and the Afghan government may be rethinking the charges against Abdul Rahman. A government official and the U.S. cable TV network MSNBC said Friday that Rahman might be freed within the next few days.

"He could be released soon," an Afghan government official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the case to the news media.

MSNBC, citing an Afghan diplomatic official it did not identify, said Rahman, 41, could be released Monday. The BBC said government officials were meeting Saturday to discuss the case.

Senior clerics in the Afghan capital have voiced strong support for prosecuting Rahman and again warned Friday they would incite people to kill him unless he reverted to Islam.

Ansarullah Maulavi Zada, the chief judge among the three trying the case, asserted the autonomy of the court.

"We have constitution and law here. Nobody has the right to put pressure on us," he said.

Australia's Prime Minister John Howard, meanwhile, joined the chorus of Western leaders expressing outrage over the prosecution of Rahman and said he would protest personally to President Hamid Karzai.

"This is appalling. When I saw the report about this I felt sick, literally," Howard told an Australian radio network Friday. "The idea that a person could be punished because of their religious belief and the idea they might be executed is just beyond belief."

Rahman faces the death penalty under the Islamic law, or sharia , that governs Afghanistan for converting 16 years ago while working for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Karzai's office has declined to comment on the case, which has put the Afghan leader in an awkward position. Karzai took power after the ouster of the hard-line Islamic Taliban regime in a U.S.-led war in late 2001 and relies on international forces to maintain his shaky grip on the country. But he would be reluctant to offend Islamic sensibilities at home or alienate religious conservatives wielding considerable power.

Diplomats have said the Afghan government is searching for a way to drop the case. On Wednesday, authorities said Rahman was suspected of being mentally ill and would undergo psychological examinations to see whether he is fit to stand trial.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice phoned Karzai on Thursday, seeking a "favorable resolution" of the case. She said the United States looked forward to that "in the very near future."

Senior clerics condemned Rahman as an apostate. Rahman had "committed the greatest sin" by converting to Christianity and deserved to be killed, cleric Abdul Rauf said in a sermon Friday at Herati Mosque. "God's way is the right way, and this man whose name is Abdul Rahman is an apostate," he told about 150 worshipers.