Abdul Rahman, the Afghani who was facing the death penalty on charges that he converted from Islam to Christianity, has been freed for lack of evidence.
At first this sounded like a joke (hasn't everyone seen the old sign-outside-the-church saw, "If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?") but it turns out that there isn't sufficient evidence that Rahman is mentally competent to stand trial.
Or so the prosecutor says. My thought: the Karzai administration had to frantically grasp for some solution that would satisfy the law and the constitution--- which, inconveniently, really does make apostasy a capital crime; the large fraction of the population who, inconveniently, consider this to be a good thing; and the American government that backs his.
I take Christian martyrdom --- you know, the old-fashioned kind where you don't take bystanders down with you --- pretty seriously. Nevertheless, I was amused by this exchange at Ann Althouse's blog:
Ann, posting: Was Rahman mentally unfit? "Rahman, [before his release], said he was fully aware of his choice and was ready to die for it, according to an interview published Sunday in an Italian newspaper La Repubblica."
Commenter twwren: It's Sharia Catch 22. He must be insane becuase any sane Muslim would reconvert to Islam therefore he cannot be executed.
Ann, in update: I like having that part of the law and note that, extended, it would mean that anyone who embraces martyrdom for religion is insane. That's a useful idea. I hope they propogate it.
There's more good stuff in the comments at that post.
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