An Afghan court on Sunday dismissed a case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity because of a lack of evidence and he will be released soon, officials said.
| "Hot potato! Hot potato!" |
 The announcement came as U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai faced mounting foreign pressure to free Abdul Rahman, a move that risked angering Muslim clerics who have called for him to be killed.
| Not being allowed to kill him will cause a great weeping and gnashing of teeth among the adherents of the Religion of Blood... |
An official closely involved with the case told The Associated Press that it had been returned to the prosecutors for more investigation, but that in the meantime, Rahman would be released.
| "This is a test. You are being released for the moment, until they can build a better case. This is a bus ticket to Europe. If you don't use it, you're crazy. Think about it." |
"The court dismissed today the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case," the official said Sunday. "The decision about his release will be taken possibly tomorrow," the official added. "They don't have to keep him in jail while the attorney general is looking into the case."
| "We need a day or so to get the bus gassed up and to put new tires on it." |
Abdul Wakil Omeri, a spokesman for the Supreme Court, confirmed that the case had been dismissed because of "problems with the prosecutors' evidence." He said several family members of Rahman have testified that he has mental problems. "It is the job of the attorney general's office to decide if he is mentally fit to stand trial," he told AP. A Western diplomat, also declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case, said questions were being raised as to whether Rahman would stay in Afghanistan or go into exile in a foreign country.
| Yeah. It's a test to see if he really is crazy. |
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.
| You're simply not allowed to do that in Islam. The penalty is death, which is why no Islamic country can allow freedom of thought. |
Some Islamic holy men clerics had said Rahman would face danger from his countrymen if he were released. Earlier Sunday he was moved to a notorious maximum-security prison outside Kabul that is also home to hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaida militants. The move to Policharki Prison came after detainees threatened his life at an overcrowded police holding facility in central Kabul, a court official.
| And the difference between the holy men and the crooks and thugs in jail is...? Right. The holy men aren't behind bars. |
Gen. Shahmir Amirpur, who is in charge of Policharki, confirmed the move and said Rahman had also been begging his guards to provide him with a Bible.
| I'm guessing the one he had was taken away from him and desecrated. I'm starting to seethe, here... |
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice phoned Karzai last Thursday and asked for a "favorable resolution" to the case. Karzai also heard from Pope Benedict XVI, who urged Rahman's release out of respect for religious freedom.
| In a Muslim country? Right. And I'm going on a tour that includes a stop at the Basilica of St. Abdullah in Mecca. |
The pope used the case Sunday to talk about Christians around the world who are persecuted for their beliefs. "My thoughts turn, in particular, to those communities who live in countries where there is a lack of religious freedom, or where despite claims on paper, they in truth are subjected to many restrictions," the pontiff said as he delivered his traditional Sunday blessing from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square. "I send them my warmest encouragement to persevere in the patience and charity of Christ," Benedict added. |