Youcef Nadarkhani: Iran Says Pastor Guilty of Rape, not Apostasy

"He has often participated in Christian worship and organized home church services, evangelizing and has been baptized and baptized others, converting Muslims to Christianity. He has been accused of breaking Islamic Law that from puberty (15 years according to Islamic law) until the age of 19 the year 1996, he was raised a Muslim in a Muslim home.

"During court trials, he denied the prophecy of Mohammad and the authority of Islam. He has stated that he is a Christian and no longer Muslim. During many sessions in court with the presence of his attorney and a judge, he has been sentenced to execution by hanging according to article 8 of Tahrir–olvasileh."

After the subpoena, the Supreme Court eventually ruled that the death penalty, on grounds of encouraging "other Muslims to convert to Christianity," should be upheld.

The new rape report was the first time that the Iranian government has mentioned any charge other than apostasy. Additionally, the little information from inside the Iranian court rooms that has surfaced indicates that Nadarkhani would be released if he chose to repent and convert to Islam.

"[Nadarkhani] was brought to court to repent for three days. He denied repentance on all three days," Nadarkhani's lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah told the International Campaign for Human Rights last week.

"I said in my last defense that his execution is not an appropriate and legal action from the viewpoint of Sharia Law, our own laws, and international laws, and I believe that the court accepted my opinion," said Dadkhah. "I hope the court will vote for his acquittal and he will be released in the coming week.

"The Judge kept asking my client to say, 'I have renounced Christianity and I recognize Islam as rescinder of all other regions,' and he kept saying 'I won't say that.'"

Nadarkhani, who used to lead a congregation of about 400 people, was first arrested in Rasht in 2009. He was found guilty of apostasy in 2010 and sentenced to death, a sentence that has been upheld after a series of appeals that reached as far as Iran's Supreme Court.

As the case slowly garners international attention, the rape allegation is a signal that Nadarkhani has become, to put it bluntly, a public relations disaster for Iran.