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Journalism of Courage
An Afghan man who had faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity has been released from prison after the case was dropped amid intense international pressure, the Justice Minister said on Tuesday.
The UN said it is working to find a country willing to grant asylum to Abdul Rahman, who has appealed to leave Afghanistan. Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini will ask his government to accept Rahman.
Afghan Justice Minister Mohammed Sarwar Danish said that Rahman, 41, was released from the high-security Policharki prison on the outskirts of Kabul late Monday.
“We released him because the prosecutors told us to,” he said. “His family was there when he was freed, but I don’t know where he was taken.”
Deputy Attorney-General Mohammed Eshak Aloko said prosecutors had issued a letter calling for Rahman’s release because “he was mentally unfit to stand trial”.
