Court sets Afghan convert free

2006-03-26 20:05

Kabul - An Afghan man who faced a possible death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity is to be freed after a court dismissed the case against him on Sunday, citing a lack of evidence, said officials.

Islamic extremists, who have decried Abdul Rahman as an apostate and called for his execution, warned of protests against the decision.

The announcement came as United States-backed President Hamid Karzai faced mounting foreign pressure, including from American President George W Bush, to release Rahman, a move that risked angering Afghanistan's powerful Muslim clerics.

An Afghan official closely involved with the case said it had been returned to the prosecutors for further investigation, but that, in the meantime, Rahman would be released.

"The court dismissed the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case," said the official on condition of anonymity as he was unauthorised to comment on the matter.

Might go into exile

"The decision about his release will be taken possibly tomorrow," he added. "They don't have to keep him in jail while the attorney-general is looking into the case."

A Western diplomat, who also asked to remain anonymous, said it wasn't clear if the 41-year-old Rahman would stay in this conservative Muslim nation or go into exile abroad.

Rahman was being prosecuted under Afghanistan's Islamic laws for converting 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

He was arrested last month after police discovered a Bible on him.

Supreme Court spokesperson Abdul Wakil Omeri confirmed that the case had been dismissed because of "problems with the prosecutors' evidence".

Several of Rahman's relatives have testified that he is mentally unstable, said Omeri.

"It is the job of the attorney-general's office to decide if he is mentally fit to stand trial," he said.

The development came as an Italian newspaper published an interview with Rahman, in which he said he was fully aware of his choice to convert.

"If I must die, I will die," Rahman told the Rome daily La Repubblica, which did not interview him directly but channelled questions through a human-rights worker who visited him in prison.

Rahman said he chose to become a Christian "in small steps" after leaving Afghanistan in about 1990.

He moved to Peshawar in Pakistan, then Germany and tried to get a visa in Belgium.

President in awkward position

"In Peshawar, I worked for a humanitarian organisation. They were Catholics," said Rahman.

The case has put Karzai in an awkward position.

While the US, Britain and other countries that prop up Karzai's government have demanded the trial be dropped, citing respect for religious freedom, the Afghan president has had to be careful not to offend Islamic sensibilities at home and alienate religious conservatives who wield considerable power.

- AP