mprisoned since May, father of six has yet to learn charges against him. ISTANBUL, November 16 (CDN) - An Afghani
amputee in prison for his Christian faith since May will face a judge
this Sunday (Nov. 21) without legal representation or knowledge of the
charges against him, according to local sources.
Authorities
arrested Said Musa, 45, on May 31, days after the local Noorin TV
station broadcast images of Afghan Christians being baptized and
worshiping. Though there were other arrests in May and June during the
ensuing man-hunt against Christians, Musa is the only known Christian
facing a court case. Turning from Islam is a
capital offence under strict Islamic laws still in place in Afghanistan,
which was wrested from the Taliban regime's hard-line Islamist control
in 2001.
The subject of Afghans leaving Islam for
Christianity became national news following the Noorin TV broadcast and
ignited a heated debate in the country's parliament and senate. In early
June, the deputy secretary of the Afghan parliament, Abdul Sattar
Khawasi, called for the execution of converts.
"Those
Afghans that appeared on this video film should be executed in public,"
he said, according to news sources. "The house should order the attorney
general and the NDS [National Directorate of Security] to arrest these
Afghans and execute them."
In June authorities forced Musa
to renounce Christianity publicly on television but have continued to
hold him in prison without revealing accusations against him. In prison,
Musa has openly said he is a follower of Jesus.
In a
hand-delivered letter penned last month to the church worldwide, U.S.
President Barack Obama and the heads of NATO's International Security
Assistance Forces, Musa wrote that he was physically and verbally abused
by his captors and other prisoners at Ouliat Prison in Kabul.
In
broken English, he wrote: "I am very and very in a bad condition in the
jail," and elsewhere in the letter, "I am alone between 400 of terrible
wolves in the jail, like a sheep."
In the two-page
letter, a copy of which Compass received in late October, Musa addressed
Obama as "brother" and pleaded with the international community: "For
[the] sake [of the] Lord Jesus Christ please pray for me and rescue me
from this jail otherwise they will kill me because I know they [have]
very very very cruel and hard hearts."
Musa wrote of being
sexually abused, beaten, mocked, spat on and deprived of sleep because
of his faith in Jesus. He wrote that he would be willing to suffer for
his faith in order to encourage and strengthen other Christians in their
faith.
Musa also described how he had repented for
denying his faith publicly: "I acknowledge my sin before [the] Lord
Jesus Christ: ‘Don't refuse me before your holy angels and before your
father because I am a very very weak and [sinful] man.'"
In
his letter, Musa alluded to the lack of justice he faced in prison,
saying that the prosecutor had given the judge a false report about him
and demanded a bribe from the Christian.
Integrity Watch
Afghanistan, an anti-corruption monitor, recently reported that
corruption in Afghanistan is rampant and has doubled since 2007. Most
Afghans polled in its 2010 report said that state corruption was fueling
the Taliban's growth. Bribes are frequently required for everything
from health care to dealing with state bureaucracy.
Prison Transfer
Days
after the letter was circulated, quiet diplomacy resulted in
authorities transferring Musa to a different prison, to keep him
separate from prisoners who would likely abuse him for his faith. He is
now held at the Kabul Detention Center in the Governor's Compound.
A
state-assigned lawyer has refused to represent him because of his
faith. No other lawyer has been willing to represent him, though he has
sought legal help.
Musa, known as Dr. Musa, has worked for
the International Committee of the Red Cross in Kabul for 15 years
fitting people for prosthetic limbs. He also has a prosthetic leg.
Married and the father of six young children, he has been a Christian
for eight years. His name is also phonetically spelled Sayed Mossa.
For
the first two months of his detainment, sources said, Musa's employer
and family could not find out where authorities were holding him. During
that time his wife received threats that she must leave Musa.
Authorities have so far denied his family access to his file, which
includes the charges against him. It is believed that the charges could
include apostasy and possibly espionage.
Local Christians and religious freedom monitors have expressed concern that Musa may be made an example.
"The
court case against Said Musa is unique," said one religious freedom
advocate, a Christian, under condition of anonymity. "Authorities
usually don't want court cases against Christians. This is high profile,
as Musa has been on TV and was put under pressure to deny his faith
publicly. This is a kind of a test case to see which law prevails in the
country: sharia [Islamic law] or international agreements."
Afghanistan's
population is estimated at 29 million, with very few Christians among
them. Afghan converts from Islam are not accepted or recognized by the
predominantly Muslim society. In recent months experts have expressed
concern over political threats against local Christians, and many,
including those exposed by Noorin TV's broadcast, have fled the country.
Christians who remain are afraid, according to sources.
"Dozens
of Afghan Christians left their homes, as the authorities were actively
looking for Christians after the television programs," said the
religious freedom monitor.
In the face of societal
stigmatization, Christians who dare to meet do so in small groups at
homes. Sources report that since the hostilities in May and June, Afghan
Christians are very intimidated.
Afghanistan ranks sixth
on Christian support oganization Open Doors' World Watch List of
countries where Christians are persecuted.
The country has
signed the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulating
religious freedom, and the nation's constitution also provides a measure
of religious liberties under Article 2. Article 3 limits the
application of all laws if they are contrary to the "beliefs and
provisions of the sacred religion of Islam."
"It seems that
this measure of religious freedom does not apply to those who have
turned away from Islam," said the religious freedoms monitor. "They are
seen as apostates, traitors of their faith and country."
