A report from BosNewsLife and MICHAEL IRELAND, of Assist News Service…
BosNewsLife and MICHAEL IRELAND, ASSIST News Service
Global pressure was increasing on Iran this week aimed at halting the execution of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, with over one million people reportedly participating in an online social networking service demanding his release and actions across Europe.
The conservative American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) group said more than one million people now follow the “Tweet for Youcef” campaign. The ACLJ use Twitter to post daily Nadarkhani updates and the number of days he has been jailed for refusing to recant his faith in Christ and return to Islam.
“The fact that the Iranian authorities are denying the execution order is a clear result from all the prayers and advocacy efforts from around the world. Truly, Yousef Nadarkhani is only alive as a result of the ongoing international pressure and the media attention that has been given to this case.”– Ann Buwalda, who chairs the Jubilee Campaign in The Netherlands |
In the Dutch city of The Hague, a petition to save the life of the 34-year-old pastor was hand delivered to the Iranian ambassador.
Joël Voordewind, a Dutch member of Parliament, and rights group Jubilee Campaign offered the petition with over 20,000 signatures directly to the Iranian Ambassador, the group told BosNewsLife.
Iranian ambassador Kazem Gharib Abadi reportedly told Voordewind this week that the pastor “was still alive”.
Jubilee Campaign said there have been false reports on the Internet that the pastor was already executed. It was not immediately clear who distributed the information.
In a media update, Ann Buwalda, who chairs the Jubilee Campaign in The Netherlands, says: “Whether the execution order has been issued remains unclear because of denials by Iranian authorities, although reliable sources in the country state that the execution order has been issued.
“The fact that the Iranian authorities are denying the execution order is a clear result from all the prayers and advocacy efforts from around the world. Truly, Yousef Nadarkhani is only alive as a result of the ongoing international pressure and the media attention that has been given to this case.”
The pastor’s Church of Iran told BosNewsLife earlier that Nadarkhani was alive but that an execution order was issued by a local court.
In Germany, the international human rights organisation IGFM, in Frankfurt am Main, announced that it has collected more than 37,000 signatures for a petition demanding the pastor’s freedom.
The group said it also organised 30 protests and added at least hundred more will follow in large German cities, including an Easter march on 7th April, in Hamburg.
Pastor Nadarkhani, who is married with two children, has been jailed since September 2009 after he registered his church and complained with local officials about the obligatory Islamic education of his children at school, saying they should not be forced to learn about a religion they do not practice.
He became a Christian at age 19 and later pastor of the Church of Iran, one of the largest evangelical house church movements in the strict Islamic country.
The regional Gilan Court sentenced Nadarkhani to death in November 2010 on charges of “apostasy”, or abandoning Islam. His appeal against that ruling was seen as being rejected in 2011.
The Supreme Court said “he can be executed” but added it would first ask a “re-examination” by the same court that already sentenced him to death
Iranian officials have denied he faces execution for his faith, despite court documents seen by BosNewsLife, saying he violated Iranian law.
Press TV, viewed as the mouth piece of the Islamic government, suggested last month it understood the possible sentence as he wasn’t “authorized” to perform “religious” services.
“Nevertheless, he has not even named the church where it is claimed he has received a degree authorizing him to perform religious duties and ceremonies in Christianity.”
Evangelical Christians have argued it’s first of all Christ Himself who calls believers to do what He wants, regardless of whether that is recognised by institutions on earth.
