No matter their religion, few lawyers would take on the responsibility of legally defending Christians in Iran, a country that is majority Muslim, with a confusing legal system that treads a fine line between courthouse law and faith-based Shariah law.
Mohammad Ali Dadkhah is one of the few daring human rights attorneys in Iran. Out of the top human rights attorneys in the country, including those who have founded the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, Dadkhah is one of the few who has managed to stay in the country and out of jail.
Aside from defending numerous political prisoners throughout the years, Dadkhah has also committed himself to defending those who are religiously persecuted, including Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, whose high-profile case has attracted worldwide attention.
Nadarkhani, pastor of a 400-person house church in Iran, was arrested in Oct. 2009 for protesting the mandatory teaching of Islam at his children’s schools.
Since Nadarkhani’s plight has gained a large amount of international attention, Iran has attempted to evade future media scrutiny by passing his case on to head Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for review.
In the past, Iran has threatened all those affiliated with cases similar to Nadarkhani’s, especially those defending a religion other than Islam, with jail time.
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SOURCE: Christian Post
Katherine Weber
BCNN1 WP 