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The court case of an Iranian pastor facing a possible death sentence for apostasy is being referred to Iran's supreme leader, the pastor's lawyer told AFP on Monday.
‘The court has decided to ask the opinion of Mr (Ali) Khamenei,' Iran's supreme leader, in the matter of pastor Yusef Nadarkhani, lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah said.
Ayatollah Khamenei has ultimate authority in the Islamic republic.
However the move to involve him in the case is unusual, and suggested that a final verdict in the case -- which has garnered international attention -- could be delayed.
Nadarkhani's lawyer had previously been expecting a verdict any time from last Saturday.
Nadarkhani, a 32-year-old pastor of a small evangelical community called the Church of Iran, was arrested in October 2009 and condemned to death under Islamic sharia law for converting to Christianity when he was 19.
Sharia law allows for such verdicts to be overturned if the convicted person 'repents' and renounces his conversion.
After his conviction was upheld by an appeals court in Gilan province in September 2010, Nadarkhani turned to the supreme court.
In July, the supreme court overturned the death sentence and sent the case back to the court in his hometown of Rasht, in Gilan province...
On September 30, Gilan's deputy governor general said Nadarkhani should not face the death penalty for apostasy, but also referred for the first time to 'security crimes' allegedly committed by the pastor whom he labelled a 'Zionist.’
But Dadkhah said the only charge stated in the case was related to apostasy.
وکيل: دادگاه ايران کيس کشيش را به رهبر عالي ارجاع مي‌دهد
تهران، 10اکتبر 2011، ساعت 1323، (خبرگزاري فرانسه) - روز دوشنبه، وکيل يک کشيش ايراني به خبرگزاري فرانسه گفت، دادگاه کيس اين کشيش، که به‌خاطر ارتداد، با احتمال حکم مرگ مواجه است، به رهبر عالي ايران ارجاع داده مي‌شود.
وکيل، محمدعلي دادخواه گفت، دادگاه تصميم گرفته است که نظر آقاي علي خامنه‌اي، رهبر عالي ايران را در خصوص کشيش يوسف ندرخواني، جويا شود.
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