Christian Post - German Lawmakers Sign Petition Calling for Release of Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani

By Luiza Oleszczuk, ChristianPost.com

Nadarkhani has been held in an Iranian prison since 2009 on charges of apostasy, abandoning Islam. He was first tried and convicted in 2010, and sentenced to death by hanging. In Nov. 2010, this ruling was upheld by the First Court of the Revolutionary Tribunal, according to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which cooperates with the pastor's attorney, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah. In Dec. 2010, Nadarkhani's case was referred to the Supreme Court in the city of Qom, Iran, which upheld the apostasy conviction and the death sentence, the ACLJ said.

While affirming the validity of apostasy mandating death, the Supreme Court provisionally returned the case to the state court of Gilan for further investigation as to whether the pastor was a Muslim between the age of majority (15 years old) and the age of his conversion to Christianity (19 years old). The Supreme Court reportedly decided that "if it can be proved that he was a practicing Muslim as an adult and has not repented, the execution will be carried out."

However, that is where the case stalled, although the court was obliged to have made a decision by now, ACLJ's International Legal Director Tiffany N. Barrans told CP....

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