On July 8, the Jerusalem Post posted an update on the story of evangelical Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who has been in prison in Iran on apostasy charges. July 8, 2012, marked the 1000th day of his time in prison. In Iran, it is a capital crime to convert from Islam to Christianity, and the Iranian government claims that Pastor Nadarkhani was once a Muslim. He has been sentenced to death.

Pastor Nadarkhani is scheduled to appear in an Iranian court again on September 8.

The article at the Jerusalem Post reports:

In an email to The Jerusalem Post on Friday, Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law & Justice, wrote, “We have confirmed that Pastor Youcef is scheduled to appear in court on September 8. We do not know the purpose of the appearance or the likelihood of new charges. We want to dispel any rumors that his current apostasy charge, for which he was sentenced to death, has been removed. Until the regime unconditionally exonerates and releases Pastor Youcef, his apostasy charge stands.”

The American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) has been the principle advocate of Pastor Nadarkhani’s release. Their hope is that by drawing attention to his imprisonment due to his Christianity, they can obtain his release. 

The article reports:

“…Our (AVLJ) global support to free Pastor Youcef continues to grow. Our Tweet for Youcef campaign now reaches more than 2.5 million people a day in more than 220 counties and territories,” Sekulow added.

Pastor Nadarkhani’s attorney, Muhammad Ali Dadkhah, has been sentenced to nine years in prison and barred from practicing law because of his work on behalf of religious liberty.

We need to remember that Iran is a Muslim country governed according to Sharia Law. The death sentence for Pastor Nadarkhani is considered appropriate under Sharia Law. Please remember also that there are those in our government who want to bring Sharia Law to America. At the state appellate court level there have been 50 cases in 23 states where judges admitted using Sharia Law. Our Constitution states that the Constitution is the law of the land. We need to keep that in mind when political leaders ask to interject laws from other countries into our court system at any level. Pastor Nadarkhani’s case is not unusual for any country practicing Sharia Law. We don’t want Sharia law to come to America.