Christian
Jailed in Afghanistan to Face Judge on Sunday
Imprisoned since May, father of six has yet to learn charges against
him.
By Damaris Kremida
ISTANBUL – 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.”
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By Damaris Kremida
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