The lawyer of an Iranian pastor sentenced to death for apostasy said Thursday he is hopeful an appeals court will acquit his client.
Attorney Mohammad Ali Dadkhah said he believes in a “95% chance” of acquittal for 32-year-old Yusuf Naderkhani.
Naderkhani turned to Christianity when he was 19 and later became a pastor in the northern Iranian city of Rasht. He was convicted of apostasy in 2010 and remains in prison in Rasht.
Dadkhah said on Thursday that he had appeared before the appeals court over the past four days and expects a ruling by the end of next week. He said neither Iranian law nor clerics have ever stipulated the death penalty as punishment for converting from Islam to Christianity.
Germany on Thursday summoned Iran’s top diplomat in Berlin to protest against the planned execution.
Angela Merkel’s office said Germany “urges Iran to lift the death sentence against pastor Yusuf Naderkhani,” and said “an execution would be inhuman and a gross violation of human rights.” — Sapa-AP