This is indeed great news, but still leaves many issues unresolved. What will Abdul’s ultimate fate be? How will the Afghan courts handle future conversions? How much religious freedom will Afghanistan tolerate? All of these questions are vital in determining the state of freedom in Afghanistan and its strides towards peace and liberty.
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, an official said.
"The court dismissed today the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
He said the case has been returned to the prosecutors for more investigation, but that in the meantime Rahman would be released.
"The decision about his release will be taken possibly tomorrow," he said.
The court, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, had been under intense international pressure to drop the case against Abdul Rahman, who faced a possible death sentence for his conversion.
Some Islamic clerics had called for him to be put to death, saying Rahman would face danger from his countrymen if he were released.
Abdul’s life will still be in jeopardy as long as he stays in Afghanistan:
Please continue to pray for Abdul and for a change in Afghanistan that they would be able to tolerate religious freedom. Without that, none of the other freedoms can fully develop.
This isn't the end of the story, and it may well be that Rahman faces more danger now than he did before. Earlier today, before the decision was announced, Afghan authorities transferred Rahman to a maximum-security prison where former Taliban soldiers and al-Qaeda terrorists are detained. One can imagine how precarious Rahman's fate will be when word gets around the yard about his conversion to Christianity -- which will probably be obvious five times a day when Rahman doesn't kneel in the direction of Mecca. Even if he survives to be released, he faces a nation that overwhelmingly believes he deserves punishment for his religious beliefs, and some may feel it necessary to deliver it personally.
His best bet is to apply for asylum to the West, preferably the US but at least anywhere but Afghanistan and Pakistan in the near term. Given enough time, they may learn religious tolerance, but that time obviously has not come yet.
I watched the Beltway Boys yesterday and Fred Barnes said we have to have “freedom in Afghanistan before there can be democracy”, as though democracy was the ideal we are shooting for. Shouldn’t that be the other way around?
Michelle Malkin has much more coverage. Political Pit Bull has a link to a video of Condoleezza Rice commenting on the situation.
More thoughts here, here, here, and here.
My previous posts on Abdul Rahman:
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