Afghan Man on Trial for being a Christian

[Steeltemplar]

I have heard on the news that he maybe let go, but I'm not 100% sure on this.


Wingzero22

If he gets let go, he will almost certainly need to leave Afghanistan. The people there are likely to murder him if he doesn't. I understand that there have been calls by some muslims already to kill him if he is freed.

[Lady Macbeth]

If he gets let go, he will almost certainly need to leave Afghanistan. The people there are likely to murder him if he doesn't. I understand that there have been calls by some muslims already to kill him if he is freed.

I think this is the article that you're referring to: http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,18590364%255E912,00.html

The closest thing I could find to an actual Afghani take on the issue comes from the Afghan Online Press:

http://www.aopnews.com/yest.html

I noticed while reading the article "Afghanistan seeks solution on convert amid Western uproar" that a very telling statement about the situation has been left out of ALL of the strictly-Western articles I've read: this man wasn't just picked up randomly off the street because someone saw his Bible or something, his family turned him in.

"This is a sensitive issue -- we are trying our best to handle it quickly," he told AFP.

"Since Islam is a religion of mercy, kindness and tolerance, we will try to find a good solution. We are trying our best to persuade the man to convert back to Islam."

On Wednesday Mawlavizada said that "if he doesn't revert back to Islam, he's going to receive the death penalty, according to the law".

Rahman, 41, is in jail while his trial is under way, with Sharia law, on which the Afghan constitution is partly based, ruling that conversion away from Islam must be punished by death if the accused person fails to revert.

He was arrested two weeks ago after his family complained to authorities.

(That's just an excerpt from the article, please read the full article.)

There are also several other articles on that page about the same trial, and very little of it is the repetitious articles that have been floating around all of our news sources.

Food for thought and information for education.

[Arnobius]

Yes his parents turned him in, as he was returning from Germany or visiting from Germany (accounts vary). The idea is troublesome to be sure. Not far off from the idea of "honor slayings" where Moslem fathers or brothers in Europe murder their daughters or sisters in the west who accept western ideas on the equality of women, or adopt western dress and customs

I am suprised you think this fact was ommitted from Western papers though, as it was mentioned in every story I've read since the story began. So if you are implying that the western papers lack objectivity that does not stand from this fact.

edit:
Also, this may be an Afghan website of news, but there is this byline:
By Sanjoy Majumder
BBC News, Kabul
3/24/06

Western news source. See the link in post 18 of this thread as it seems to be the same story

other bylines on the page from this story:

By DANIEL COONEY
Associated Press
3/24/2006

Actually, as I scroll, EVERY article on that page has a Western news organization byline

edit 2:

Interestingly, today's news from http://www.aopnews.com, there is a telling fact about his parents turning him in

Mr Rahman converted 16 years ago as an aid worker helping refugees in Pakistan. His estranged family denounced him during a custody dispute over his two children.

makes one wonder about parents willing to turn over their son... should they have custody over this man's children?

[Lady Macbeth]

I am suprised you think this fact was ommitted from Western papers though, as it was mentioned in every story I've read since the story began. So if you are implying that the western papers lack objectivity that does not stand from this fact.

I noticed the bylines. I wasn't implying non-objectivity, I was implying that those SAME sources (BBC, AP, CNN, etc) have DIFFERENT articles that are much less complete online right now. I went through an entire page of search hits on Google News before I came up with the articles I posted - the others were regurgitations of the first article posted to this thread, with maybe one or two lines for updates tacked on.

I should have been more clear - I was suggesting SLOPPY journalism rather than BIASED journalism. Countries where journalism isn't nearly as free are noted for being more careful not to run the same thing (unless it's state sponsored) and have public statements by their officials rather than commentators or outsiders.

makes one wonder about parents willing to turn over their son... should they have custody over this man's children?

I don't personally think they should - but I'm sure their country finds it perfectly acceptable. They're probably raising the children to be Muslims and are making an excruciating point about Christianity with their father's trial - what better way to keep someone from a religion than to see their father killed (or nearly killed on the chance that he gets off and can safely skip the country) over it?

[Steeltemplar]

I don't personally think they should - but I'm sure their country finds it perfectly acceptable. They're probably raising the children to be Muslims and are making an excruciating point about Christianity with their father's trial - what better way to keep someone from a religion than to see their father killed (or nearly killed on the chance that he gets off and can safely skip the country) over it?

No doubt they are thinking this way. Although I wonder if it might not backfire on them - cause the children to hate Islam for the rest of their lives as the religion that murdered their father. I could see either happening.

[Android raptor]

This is bad, very bad. I want to live in a world of tolerance and acceptance, but sadly, that is a long ways away....

[Arnobius]

I noticed the bylines. I wasn't implying non-objectivity, I was implying that those SAME sources (BBC, AP, CNN, etc) have DIFFERENT articles that are much less complete online right now. I went through an entire page of search hits on Google News before I came up with the articles I posted - the others were regurgitations of the first article posted to this thread, with maybe one or two lines for updates tacked on.

I should have been more clear - I was suggesting SLOPPY journalism rather than BIASED journalism. Countries where journalism isn't nearly as free are noted for being more careful not to run the same thing (unless it's state sponsored) and have public statements by their officials rather than commentators or outsiders.

That seems to be more of a comment of on line stories than sloppy news reporting, as the old fashioned print newspapers had these facts listed. The site you posted merely was a collection of news articles concerning Afghanistan. A few were Asian, most were Western.

I'm not suprised you came up with simiar stories. Few Newspapers can keep a staff in all nations. So, a lot of names come up a lot for international news: Reuters, API, New York Times, CNS, BBC etc. The papers of the US turn to these groups for their International news. Look at the bylines of the local papers and I'm sure you'll see one or more of these given as the source of the stories.

Another reason for repitition is the nature of the news media. Now we have instant access to the news 24/7. But the events themself do not have new developments 24/7. So as a result, we see numerous repition of stories

As for unfree press, you will find even more conformity, because the press prints what the government says. Government officials say no more than what they want revealed, and things not supporting to the government point of view are not printed. Since 90% of the stories from that site you reference were lifted from those western news syndicates listed above, it cannot be used to say that the news in the west is being sloppy compared to the news of the controlled press, since it is the news of the west you are citing in the first place.

[shooraijin]

I think we're diverging a bit.

[ashfire]

I just heard this morning the judges have determed a mistrial and the man will be released.
I hope he will beable to leave the country before something happens to him.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Android raptor, tolerance and acceptance are two drastically different things.

Whatever happens to this man, I pray that God uses it for his purpose and (hopefully the man can escape the death sentence).

[Arnobius]

I just heard this morning the judges have determed a mistrial and the man will be released.
I hope he will beable to leave the country before something happens to him.

Hope you're right, this was the most recent story I heard:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4847342.stm.

Letting him go while the Judge considers his case is something I find myself wondering if he will be murdered while waiting.

[beau99]

It's been confirmed he'll be released.

[Stephen]

Should be interesting to see what happens as a result of his release.

[Nate]

I'd say he has about a day to safely escape the country or else we'll be hearing about his murder tomorrow. :\

[Slater]

apparently this sets a precident in Afghanistan. Experts claim that it will probably become impossible to sentence a man to death for converting from Islam to Christianity.

[Arnobius]

apparently this sets a precident in Afghanistan. Experts claim that it will probably become impossible to sentence a man to death for converting from Islam to Christianity.

I sure hope the experts are right. That would seem to be a major requirement to keep Afghanistan from reverting to what it was before

[Nate]

I heard his family is saying he's like mentally retarded or something, and should be let go because of that. I'm not sure whether or not to take insult at that...

[Nate]

no his family wants him dead.

I guess it depends on what news source you read. According to the BBC:

Earlier, Mr Rahman's family asked the court to dismiss the case against him, saying he suffered from mental illness.

That's what I was going off of, that they said he was mentally ill and therefore the case should be dismissed. As I said, I'm not sure whether or not to take insult at that.

[Steeltemplar]

When we say "his family" here, who are we talking about? "His family" encompasses a number of people, I should think. Most likely this is the reason for the discrepency. Perhaps some of his family wants it dismissed for mental illness while others want him dead.