Pastor Nadarkhani of the evangelical Church of Iran denomination was arrested in his home city of Rasht in 2009 while attempting to register his church. In September 2010 he was tried and found guilty of apostasy (abandoning Islam), and was sentenced to death. His case has been referred to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Hoseyni Khamenei, the highest political and religious authority in the country.

Pastor Nadarkhanis öde väntas bli avgjort inom några dagar. Det är irans högste andlige ledare, ayatolla Ali Khamenei, som har avgörandet i sin hand. Det rapporteras nu att pastorn har fått en mängd litteratur att läsa för att han ska ges tillfälle att omvända sig. Gör han inte det kan han vara död inbom några dagar. Omvärldens påtryckningar och många kristnas böner är det som hittills räddat honom. Låt oss fortsätta att be för honom.
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UPDATE 26/10/2011: CSW has received reports from contacts close to the case that Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani was recently presented with Islamic literature, allegedly as part of an official campaign to convert Christian prisoners. He was advised not to read them as he would later be asked questions on them, and any criticism of their contents would open the way to charges of blasphemy.

CSW continues to call for urgent prayer and action on behalf of Pastor Nadarkhani.

CSW is continuing to advocate on behalf of Pastor Nadarkhani by raising awareness among the international community and media, and urging key international players to intervene on his behalf .

Continued international vigilance and pressure is vital: the life of this man is still very much in the balance.

Global response to Nadarkhani’s case

CSW has been advocating for urgent international action to prevent the pastor’s execution. As the momentum has grown, statements condemning the sentence have been issued by various international politicians, including UK Foreign Secretary William Hague,; US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,; President Obama’s press secretary; the governments of France, Canada and Uruguay, and EU Representative for Foreign Affairs Baroness Ashton.

Prominent national and international media outlets have featured the case, including: The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, New Statesman, The Washington Post, Voice of America, SkyNews, ITN, Business Week, CNN and the BBC.

Within one week CSW’s campaign has mobilised over 40,000 activists through social media and the CSW website. The Facebook page group in support of Pastor Nadarkhani counts 11,400 international members. Thousands of people worldwide are praying and protesting locally.

Pastor Nadarkhani's case: Timeline

October 2011 - A final written verdict by the court iwas expected on Monday 10 October, but after several weeks of intense international scrutiny, Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani’s death sentence for apostasy has been referred to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Hoseyni Khamenei, the highest political and religious authority in the country. Referral of court cases to the Supreme Leader is rare, and will almost certainly cause a further delay to the issuing of the written verdict from the trial.

As we wait for the formal verdict to come through, Pastor Nadarkhani’s life is in the balance. No conclusions should be drawn on this case until this verdict is received.

September 2011 - Pastor Nadarkhani was put on trial again from 25 to 28 September. In a session on 25 September, the court in Rasht ruled that the pastor had not practiced Islam as an adult, but still upheld the charge of apostasy because of the his Muslim ancestry. From 26- 28 September he appeared in court three times, and was asked each day to renounce his faith in order to secure an annulment of the apostasy charge and a lifting of the death sentence. He refused each time. On 28 September, Pastor Nadarkhani’ lawyer, Mr Mohammed Ali Dadkah, presented the final defense.

The conviction and sentence are illegal under Iranian law, since the penal code does not specify death for apostasy. They also violate article 23 of the Iranian Constitution, which states that no-one should be molested or taken to task simply for holding a certain belief. Moreover, the conviction and sentence are in violation of international covenants to which Iran is signatory, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees freedom of religion and the right to change one’s religion.

July 2011 – A written verdict was received by Pastor Nadarkhani’s lawyer; however, it was dated June 2011. Contradicting a verbal verdict received earlier, the written verdict upheld the death sentence , but included a provision for its annulment if Pastor Nadarkhani renounced his faith. The Supreme Court also asked the court in Rasht to re-examine whether or not Pastor Nadarkhani had been practicing Islam as an adult prior to adopting Christianity.

June 2011 - The appeal was heard by the Supreme Court of Iran and verbal notification of a lifting of the death sentence was given.

December 2010: Nadarkhani’s lawyer filed an appeal.

November 2010: the written verdict from the September trial was received by Pastor Nadarkhani’s legal team, confirming the verbal notification of a death sentence for apostasy,

September 2010 - Pastor Nadarkhani was tried and found guilty of apostasy (abandoning Islam) by the Assize court of Gilan province in Rasht, and received verbal notification of a death sentence, despite the fact that death for apostasy is not codified in the Iranian Penal Code. The court used a loophole in Iran’s constitution, basing their verdict on fatwas (religious rulings) by Grand Ayatollah Khomeini, the “father” of the Iranian Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, and Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, currently the most influential religious leader in the country

October 2009 - Pastor Nadarkhani was arrested, soon after questioning of the Muslim monopoly of the religious instruction for children of Iran, which he felt was unconstitutional..