Posted: 03/08/2013 at 9:00am | IP Logged

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (ANS) -- Earlier reports that Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is dead are now being refuted by sources in Iran who have made contact with the persecuted pastor and who say he is 'alive and well.'

Yesterday, an Anglican vicar in Iraq said that Iranian Pastor Youssef Nadarkhani was dead. The vicar said reports and pictures existed of Nadarkhani’s fate.

On his Facebook account today (Friday, March 8) Canon Andrew White, Vicar of St. George’s Church in Baghdad, Iraq, cited a report by an individual named “Davidukdavid Jajjo” and datelined Isfahan, Wednesday 06 March 2013, which said: “was Tuesday hanged Rev. Yusuf Naderkhani publicly, having decided the Iranian authorities hanged for blasphemy just because he refused to deny the Jesus and his insistence on his faith, and had stunned the audience as remained smiling on his way to the gallows, calling the audience not to abandon their faith and he was happy to Aqtdaúh martyrs of the faith and walk on the path of Christ.”

The report, as yet still unverified, then related the embattled pastor’s history.

It said: “Yusuf Naderkhani (Persian: Yusuf Naderkhanی) is an Iranian Protestant pastor born in 1977 from the city of Rasht in Gilan province, northern Iran. Converted to Christianity when he was nineteen years old, and worked since 2000 as chaplain for several house churches unlicensed, was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to death for apostasy from Islam in 2010.

“Was arrested in December 2006 on charges of apostasy from Islam and proselytizing Christianity and then released after two weeks of detention. In 2009 the Iranian government announced the imposition of Koranic on all Iranian students, including non-Muslims, Christians and others went Yusuf Naderkhani to school his sons Daniel (nine years) and Joel (seven years) in the city of Rasht to protest are so based on the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of 1979, which guarantees freedom of worship "the People of the Book", secret police arrested the priest in the evening of that day, and on October 12 of the same year, such as Naderkhani for the first time before the court and charged with apostasy and out of Islam.”

The controversy over Pastor Nadarkhani’s wellbeing was fueled by Canon White, writing on his Facebook yesterday (Thursday, March 7), at which time White said he was meeting with Muslim leaders today and came home to the news of Nadarkhani’s death.

At the time this story first went to press, the news had not been independently confirmed or verified.

While two independent ministries, both working in the region, had no working knowledge of the claim at the time, Jason DeMars of www.Presenttruthmn.com , told ANS late last evening, “Youcef is alive and he is doing fine.”

DeMars, who is a spokesman for Present Truth Ministries, stated: “There are reports circulating that Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been killed, but my sources report that he is alive and doing fine.”

Representatives of the two ministries working in the region earlier said they had no news on Nadarkhani's situation. However, at least three sources have now refuted the claims of Nadarkhani’s death.

Firouz Khandjani, member of the National Council of Church of Iran also stated: "I would confirm that Pastor Yousef is alive and well."

The two other ministries, the UK-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide (www.csw.org.uk ) and the US-based American Center for Law and Justice (www.aclj.org), both of which have championed Nadarkhani’s cause, today refuted the claim of Nadarkhani’s death.

In a media release, CSW said: “Reports alleging that Pastor Nadarkhani had been hanged initially surfaced last week and have resurfaced today.

“Pictures purporting to show a man being hanged are being attributed as evidence of the pastor’s death. However, the man in these pictures is not Pastor Nadarkhani, and CSW’s sources have confirmed he is still alive.”

CSW also confirmed the history of Nadarkani’s case. It says that on September 8, 2012, a court in Rasht acquitted Pastor Nadarkhani of apostasy, but sentenced him to three years for evangelizing Muslims. Since he had already spent close to three years in Lakan Prison, the pastor was released after posting bail. He was returned to prison on December 25, 2012 on the orders of prison authorities, and released again on January 7, 2013.

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, “While we are relieved to report that Pastor Nadarkhani is alive, we urge caution in circulating rumors which must be deeply distressing for his family, his congregation and for many around the world who continue to pray for him. Given their possible ramifications, it is vital that reports of such a serious nature are stringently verified before dissemination.”

A spokesman for the ALCJ commented on Facebook: “Update on Nadarkhani: Our contacts inside Iran have now spoken with Youcef Nadarkhani. He is alive. Reports/rumors of his death that have been spreading online are false.”

Earlier today, on his Facebook account, Canon White wrote: “As you will see from postings some say Pastor Yusef alive some say he is not. Welcome to the Middle East we are trying to get word from Iran itself.”

The original information about the status of Pastor Nadarkhani came from Canon White who yesterday wrote: “A truly wonderful day with my dear, dear friend the Grand Ayatollah Hossain Al Sader. With us were many of the other Islamic leaders. We spent 4 hours together had lunch and talked about the Almighty and His love that unites us.

“Then we returned to the terrible news that Pastor Yusif, the evangelical pastor in Iran had been killed. He had been sentenced to death many months ago. He had been given four chances to return to Islam and he had refused. He waved goodbye and went to heaven. People will say look at how evil Islam is. It is not, and the start of today shows we love each other.”

In answer to several questions from his followers on Facebook, Canon White said: “We have all the reports, but they are in Arabic and Farsi. We even have the pictures.”

On Saturday, September 8, 2012, ASSIST News reported that after more than 1,000 days in jail, Youcef Nadarkhani -- the sorely persecuted pastor who repeatedly refused to renounce his LORD -- emerged a free man, unbroken.

The court acquitted Nadarkhani of apostasy, the charge for which he had been sentenced to death.

According to Mohammad-Ali Dadkhah, Nadarkhani's lawyer, the court 'finally accepted our argument' that Iran's penal code did not 'criminalize apostasy' (Financial Times, Sept.9). However, the court did find Nadarkhani guilty of 'evangelizing Muslims'.

For this 'crime' he was sentenced to three years imprisonment but granted time served and released.

Elizabeth Kendall, author of the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 176, wrote in September last year that, “While we rejoiced that Pastor Youcef (was released), enjoying the fellowship of believers and the joyful, tender warmth of his wife and sons, we must remember that Nadarkhani's life might be more at risk now than ever.”

Iran's penal code might not criminalize apostasy, but Islamic Sharia law does, Kendall stated.

Kendall added: “Furthermore, as this prayer ministry previously cautioned in RLPB 173, 'by launching a new trial with unprovable accusations [extortion and banditry], the regime may be seeking to "wash its hands" publicly of Nadarkhani and release him to the Islamists and secret police while declaring itself "innocent of this man's blood" (after the manner of Pontius Pilate in Matthew 27:24), as has happened before in Iran.'

Kendall said that furthermore, a second conviction of 'evangelizing Muslims' would doubtless be punished more severely than the first. “We must also remember that numerous Iranian Christians remain in prison, including Pastor Behnam Irani (41; married, with two children) who is gravely ill,” she said.

Several Iranian Christians remain in Iranian prisons and believers around the world are being urged to remain in prayer for their wellbeing and eventual release.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organization working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

For further information or to arrange interviews please contact Kiri Kankhwende, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0) 78 2332 9663, email kiri@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

Source: Assist News Service