Sad news from Iran. Just read the following news report on the “cossway.com” website. Please pray for persecuted believers all over the world. Many are suffering for their faith, and they need our prayers.
Here are some exerts from the report:
Two Christians from Muslim backgrounds were officially charged with apostasy last week at the Public and Revolutionary Court in Shiraz, Iran, raising fears for their continued well-being.
Capital punishment for apostasy is not codified in Iranian law, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) explained in a media advisory. According to the Bill of Indictment obtained by Farsi Christian News Network (FCNN), the prosecutor requested the death penalty for 53 year old Mahmoud Mohammad Matin-Azad and 40 year old Arash Ahmad-Ali Basirat by evoking the judge’s constitutional obligations to refer to Shari’a law, and by citing Imam Khomeini’s book, Tahrir-ul-Vasile, which stipulates the death penalty for apostasy.
CSW said that as Mr Matin-Azad and Mr Basirat, who have been detained since May 15, await a verdict, another Iranian Christian, Ramtin Soodmand, has been held without formal charge since August 21, 2008. Mr. Soodmand is the son of the late Hossein Soodmand, who was the last Christian convert from Islam to be hanged following an apostasy verdict in 1990.
This is serious. Life and death. Please pray for these three men and their families.
***also posting this on the accidental missionary site.
