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The first involves Youcef Nadarkhani, a 34-year-old married pastor and father of two boys. Nadarkhani has been sentenced to death in Iran for refusing to renounce his faith.

Iranian authorities charge that Nadarkhani is a Muslim who committed an act of apostasy by converting to Christianity. They also say that he has evangelized to Muslims.

Nadarkhani was first jailed in 2006,but after two weeks, he was released.

He ran afoul of Iranian authorities again three years later, when he protested the government’s decision to teach all children, including those from Christian families, about Islam. Nadarkhani maintained that Iran’s constitution recognizes the freedom to practice religion.

Summoned to a political tribunal, he was arrested and charged with protesting — a charge later changed to apostasy and evangelism. He has been in prison ever since.

Nadarkhani was tried in September 2010 and verbally sentenced to death. A written verdict was handed down in November: execution by hanging.

The verdict was appealed to the Iranian Supreme Court, which upheld the death sentence this year but ordered a local court to find out whether Nadar­khani had been a practicing Muslim in his teens and thus merited a chance to recant. The inquiry found that the pastor did not convert to Christi... >>>