Jailed Afghan Christian Could Be Freed As Court Reviews Case

An Afghan court decided yesterday to stall a controversial case against a Christian facing the death penalty for refusing to renounce his faith, and is likely to release him soon while it reviews the evidence.

Under a storm of western criticism the Afghan government has scrambled for a way to end the prosecution of Abdul Rahman, 41, who converted to Christianity in Pakistan 16 years ago.

Yesterday a supreme court spokesman said the case was being reviewed because of "problems with the prosecutor's evidence". The case will be sent back to prosecutors, while the attorney general will examine whether Rahman is "fit to stand trial", he added.

Rahman, who begged his jailers for a bible, insists he is of sound mind and willing to die for his faith. "I am serene and have full awareness ... If I must die, I will die," he told the Italian daily La Repubblica, which sent questions through a human rights worker.

Yesterday officials said they were moving him to Pul-i-Charki, a notorious high security facility with hundreds of Taliban convicts, after fellow prisoners threatened to kill him at Kabul's main jail. Now Rahman could be freed, possibly today, pending the review of his case, a court official told Associated Press. Rahman stands accused of apostasy, or abandonment of faith - an offence punishable by hanging under Islamic law. His prosecution exposes contradictions in the constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion yet declares all laws to be subject to Islam.

President George Bush, who visited Kabul this month, said he was "deeply troubled". Pope Benedict XVI made an appeal for clemency, while Austria, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said it would "leave no stone unturned" to protect Rahman.

Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has sought to defuse the crisis but also wants to avoid angering the hardline religious leaders who control the country's top courts. Several clerics have threatened to kill Rahman if he is released.

Rahman said he had been denounced to police by his ex-wife and children, who objected to his faith. He said he encountered Christianity as a refugee in Peshawar, Pakistan, where he worked for a foreign aid agency. "They were Catholics. We talked about religion. I read the bible. It opened my heart and mind."

Asked if he would leave Afghanistan if released, he said: "Perhaps. But if I were to flee again it would mean my country had not changed. It would mean that the Taliban had won."