Good thing that nasty repressive Taliban is gone!

Afghan may die for conversion to Christianty

KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan man is being prosecuted in a Kabul court and could be sentenced to death for converting from Islam to Christianity, a crime under this country’s Islamic laws, a judge said yesterday.

The trial highlights a struggle between religious conservatives and reformists over what shape Islam should take here, four years after the United States led the ouster of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime.

The defendant, Abdul Rahman, 41, was arrested last month after his family accused him of becoming a Christian, Judge Ansarullah Mawlavezada said in an interview. Rahman was charged with rejecting Islam and his trial started Thursday.

During the one-day hearing, the defendant confessed that he converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, Mawlavezada said.

“We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law,” the judge said. “It is an attack on Islam.”

Mawlavezada said he would rule on the case within two months.

Love that quote from the judge – Hey, we’re not against any particular religion, but if you convert to one we’ll kill you!