islam murders

[sprintcyclist]

THE UK's Foreign Secretary and the Archbishop of Canterbury intervened today to try to save a Christian pastor in Iran who has refused to renounce his faith to escape a death sentence.

An Iranian court gave Youcef Nadarkhani, 34, a third and final chance to avoid hanging, but he replied, "I am resolute in my faith and Christianity and have no wish to recant."

The panel of five judges will decide within a week whether to confirm his execution for apostasy, Mohammed Ali Dadkhah, his lawyer, told The (London) Times.

William Hague said he "deplored" Pastor Nadarkhani's plight, and a senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office diplomat telephoned the Iranian charge d'affaires in London to protest.

"This demonstrates the Iranian regime's continued unwillingness to abide by its constitutional and international obligations to respect religious freedom," Mr Hague said. "I pay tribute to the courage shown by Pastor Nadarkhani, who has no case to answer, and call on the Iranian authorities to overturn his sentence."

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, broke his silence to express "deep concern" at the sentence faced by Nadarkhani, and at the persecution of religious minorities in Iran generally.

A member of the Protestant evangelical Church of Iran and the father of two young boys, Nadarkhani held services in underground "home churches" in Rasht, a provincial town about 240km north-west of Tehran.

In 2009, he challenged the regime's insistence that all schools should teach Islam. He was arrested in October that year and has been imprisoned in Rasht ever since. He was sentenced to death for apostasy by a court in Rasht last year.

Sources said Christian clerics and advisers had been working hard behind the scenes to save the pastor's life, but had sought to avoid "megaphone diplomacy" in case it did more harm than good.

The US Department of State has also condemned the Iranian judiciary for demanding that Nadarkhani renounce his faith or face execution.

"While Iran's leaders hypocritically claim to promote tolerance, they continue to detain, imprison, harass and abuse those who simply wish to worship the faith of their choosing," it said.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/br ... 6151114178