Danish oppotition to death penalty of Iranian convert

Church-based NGOs put pressure on Governement to act against persecution of Iranian Christian

Yousef Nadarkhani, Iranian priest, has converted to Christianity and is now facing death penalty, convicted for leaving Islam. Therefore 17 Danish church-based organisations have appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration to take action towards the Iranian authorities. 

 

“This issue cries to heaven for attention. Therefore it is urgent for us to try and make a difference," General Secretary of the Danish Bible Society, Morten Thomsen Højsgaard says to the Christian Daily. 

 

On October 11th he visited the Iranian embassy in Copenhagen in order to deliver a letter of concern for the young Iranian convert on behalf of the Danish Bible Society. The embassy refused to accept the letter, as it criticizes the Iranian government. 

 

“It is chocking and shows how urgent this is,” Morten Thomsen Højsgaard says in a Youtube video, posted by the Bible Society. “We are dealing with a dictatorship, a monstrous regime that denies this man his fundamental rights. A man with wife and kids whose only crime is that he has become a Christian is now again imprisoned in Iran.”

 

Not being able to contact Iranian authorities directly, the Danish Bible Society together with a variety of 17 church based organisations has contacted the two ministries in order to emphasize the importance of putting international pressure on Iran regarding human rights and especially the right to freedom of religion or belief.

In their letter to the ministers, the organisations call on the Danish government to take action in the concrete case of Yousef Nadarkhani as well as on the issue of persecution of Christians in general. They also call on the ministers to be aware of the danger Christian refugees will face if their application for asylum is rejected, and they will be sent back to their home country. 

 

The signing organisations include, apart from the Danish Bible Society, The Danish Council of Churches, the Danish Evangelical Alliance, The Salvation Army, Danmission and many others.

 

By: Rebekka Højmark Jensen

 

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