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Update: Decision stalled on Iranian Pastor's case
A pastor in Iran sentenced to death for refusing to recant his faith may have to wait another year for a ruling on whether the sentence will be upheld, according to sources.
Yousef Nadarkhani, sentenced to death after a court of appeals in Rasht, Iran, found him guilty of leaving Islam in September 2010, has been in prison since October 2009, yet his lawyers said they were told to not expect any movement on his case for another year.
"The news we have about Yousef is not official, but that's what the lawyers are saying," a member of the Church of Iran who requested anonymity told Compass. "The lawyers speak to the judges' secretaries and hear things. Rasht is not a big city, so it is easy to know what is happening."
The head of Iran's Judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, has reportedly ordered the presiding judge over the trial in Rasht to do nothing for one year.
The court in Rasht, 243 kilometers (151 miles) northwest of Tehran, was expected to pronounce a verdict on Yousef's appeal in October, and sources said the court's long silence bodes ill. Instead of pronouncing a verdict, the court sent the Christian's case to the nation's Islamic authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, to make a ruling.
Authorities have also continued to pressure Yousef to recant his faith while in prison. In September they gave him Islamic literature aimed at discrediting the Bible, according to sources, and instructed him to read it. The court reportedly has been told to use whatever means necessary to compel Yousef to recant his faith.
Source: Compass Direct News
Please pray:
- Yousef's life will be spared
- Yousef will remain strong in his faith and know the presence and peace of Jesus each day
- His wife, Fatemeh, and their two sons will know the comfort and hope of Jesus, and that the family will be reunited soon.
Homepage image: flickr.com by Indigoprime
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