Iran votes in favor of death penalty bill
ICC Note
The vote by the Iranian Parliament to prescribe the death penalty for Muslim converts to other religions could result in the death of many Christian converts.
09/22/2008 Iran (MNN) - Just last week, September 9th, Iran 's parliament voted in overwhelming favor of a bill that mandates the death penalty for apostasy.
There were 196 votes in favor, seven against the bill and two abstentions, according to Christians Solidarity Worldwide. Just days before the vote, two Christian men, Mahmood Matin-Azad and Arash Basirat, were charged with apostasy.
The two men are Christian converts from Islam. They have been detained since May 15, 2008 and are still awaiting their penalty.
Penner said, however, that he is optimistic that if the law is passed it will not affect evangelism directly. "It's not so much evangelism that would lead to the death penalty as those who would be accepting Christ could potentially then be hit with apostasy laws. So you know, to become a Christian in Iran is dangerous at the best of times, but I'm not convinced that this would stop somebody from becoming a Christian."
