AFGHANISTAN. ISLAMIC LEGAL EXPERT DEFENDS DEATH PENALTY FOR APOSTASY

Sher Ali Zarifi, head of religious jurisprudence in Afghanistan’s Science Academy of leading intellectuals, defended the death penalty for Muslims who converted to other religions, as debate continued over the case of a Christian convert who fled to Italy.
Zarifi did not refer to Abdul Rahman by name but told a meeting of scholars that punishment for apostasy under Islam was death unless the convert recanted.
Zarifi, whose organisation is government-funded, said the UN declaration did not apply in this case since conversion away from Islam violated a system and not merely the rights of an individual.
"Converting is not a matter of one person's rights but it is against an administrative structure. Afghanistan's administration is based on Islamic law," he said.