| No new facts here, but this is the story as reported by Kuwaiti state news in English. |
Majority of ulema say he must be awarded death sentence. However, the government is dilly-dallying to get more time to allay the international pressure mostly from Afghanistan's allies and supporters, including Germany and the United States. Ansarullah Maulvizada, judge of the court where Abdul Rahman case is being heard, said the accused had confessed the crime before the court during his initial trial; however, his lawyer said his client was mentally upset. In a chat with KUNA, the judge said Abdul Rahman's confession would prove the case against him and he can face death penalty because conversion is neither allowed in Islam nor under Afghanistan's laws.
The sharia (Islamic law) states that Muslim who converts to other religion should be subjected to death sentence. The case, the first of its type in the history of Afghanistan, had placed the Afghan government between a rock and a hard place. Being a tribal society and religious minded people, majority of Afghans are angry at the conversion of Abdul Rahman and they want him to be given the extreme punishment to avoid repetition such incidents in future. However, on the other hand, Afghanistan's most reliable allies, including President George Bush had recently voiced concern over the 'persecution' of the man and asked for his release.
Both internal and external pressure exerting on the government from opposite directions is proving a test for the Afghan government. Analysts believe, if the matter was raised in the parliament, where majority of the MPs are religious-minded people, would create more problems for the government because the parliamentarians too, would recommend the same treatment to him as being demanded by the people of this Central Asian country.